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NARRATIVE , 



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EDMUND WRIGHT; 



HIS ADVENTURES WITH AND ESCAPE FROM 



THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



" Truth is Stranger than Fiction. 






CINCINNATI: 

J. R. HAWLEY, 164 VINE STREET 

1864. 



■'• 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, 

By J. R. Hawley, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District 

of Ohio. 



2. S- 2 (s> 4 



CONTENTS* 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction — Love of Right — The Author acquires his Education in the North — He 
Marries a Yankee Woman — Takes her to the Sunny South — Finds his Father a 
Knight — The Author Bitten by the Snake — Opinions of other Victims — The Ser- 
pent Jewel — Illinois Copperheads — Spies in the North — Reuben Stout — Atrocities 
of the Order — Court of Saint Hive 15 



CHAPTER II. 

Renewal of Old Acquaintance — Who propagates the Mongrel Breed of Yellow Pine- 
colored Wenches and Mahogany Male Chattels — There are true Men North and 
South — Gin and Sugar an Infallible Remedy for Yankee Blood-letting of Southern 
Chivalry — The Author talks like a Plymouth Rock Boy — Scripture will not do for 
Slaves — A Yankee Wife Charms the Ire of a Veteran Knight 25 



CHAPTER III. 

Qualifications for Knighthood — Aristocracy the Standard — Initiation — Satanic Oath — 
Awful Scene in an Alabama Temple — How the Order Raises the Financial Sinews 
of the War— The " Gray Cross "—The " Raven's Plume "— " Master of the Rose of 
of the Circle " — Location of Lodges in Northern States — " Trust not a Coward 
where the Wind blows cold." 30 



CHAPTER IV. 

Adherence to the Order, or Death — The South, Right or Wrong — Sectional Prejudices — 
The Test Oath — Illusions — The Author Astounded, but not Cowarded — The Flam- 
ing Serpent — The Final Oath — The Mission of Man, White or Black — The Fiend- 
like Group — Knight of the " Columbian Star " — Sir Ass — Blasphemy of the K. 
G 39 



CHAPTER V. 

Schemes of Knights holding high Official Positions in the Federal Capital — How Ste- 
phen A. Douglas was Slaughtered by them — Red Rose Breckinridge flaunts the 
Emblems of Treason under the nose of an Imbecile President — Floyd, Toombs and 
Wigfall — Beauregard's intended Castle at West Point — Dirty George N. Sanders — 
J. D. B. and C. L. V.— A Cairo Rebel Youth and a Peddling Spy— Terrible Atro- 
cities on Tombigbee River — Union Men and Women Smothered in a Cave — Blair, 
an inhuman fiend, r'enders his account to the Prince of Darkness — 'Liza and Little 
Jack — The Brains of a Child distributed 54 



IV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Credulity of a noble veteran Southerner — Perception of a Yankee Wife — She outgenerals 
in argument her newly-knighted Spouse — The Turning Point — St. Augustine Cas- 
tle — Commission for the Establishment of New Temples — Villainous Designs, most 
widely known, the sooner exposed 69 



CHAPTER VII. 

Advice of a Dying Knight — Removal of the Author to Georgia — Confidence in a Nor- 
thern Woman — A Letter that told — The North has an inkling of Traitorou 
Schemes — Extinction of Slavery must bide its time — How Patriots Write — Sum- 
mons to St. Augustine Castle 74 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Heresy at Galveston — Detectives — Sealed Instructions — Ex-Clergyman jKnight — A 
sound Judge — Galveston Knights too smart for St. Augustine — Fool's errand — 
Postoffice not public — Experience therein — Acts of the Triumvirs — "Under the 
Pump" — "March of the Crescent" — Detectives in " durance vile." 79 



CHAPTER IX. 

A Judge brought to Judgment — He Quails Not — Ruse of the Parson — Extraordinary 
Harangue of the Triumvir Chief — The Lone Star on her Dignity — Galveston not 
Augustine — The Great Room of the Temple — " Let the Craven Three Approach" — 
Decree of the Soldan — The Judge all Spunk — He Disappears 89 



CHAPTER X. 



"The Souvenir of Treachery" — The Judge returns with a tight-fitting Collar — Firm- 
ness not to be Intimidated — The Parson Quavers — The Five Signals — " Traitor's 
Doom " — Villainy Triumphs over Nobility of Soul — Massacre of the Judge — Re- 
solution of the Author — He Vows Retribution and Bides His Time 96 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Milk in the Cocoanut— The Parson and Author in Better Lodgings — Opportune 
Discovery of Crinoline and Accompaniments — Hypocrisy — The Parson Emigrates 
to the Land of Nod — A Clerical Vail Available in an Emergency — Somnolent 
Guards— Crinoline Challenged— "Who Goes There?" 101 



CHAPTER XII. 

Missy Clary personified — Liberty Regained — Widows plenty in Galveston — Influence 
of the Almighty Dollar on " Widder Kindercut" — Hoops Discarded in the land of 
Dreams — Hunger requires no Luxury — Uncalled for room-mate — Price of an Es- 
caped Prisoner in the Lone Star State 105 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Modesty severely Tested — Caution comes to the Rescue — Waking Dreams between the 
Sheets — Proximity of the Sex murders Sleep — Disguised Crinoline in Jeopardy — 
Galveston Femiuines not quite such Fools as they seem — The Author must needs 
"cave," and resorts to the Golden Charm — He makes a Virtue of Necessity, and 
bargains for a more Masculine Metamorphosis 110 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Suspense — " Widder Kindercut " on the Alert — Down the Cellar — Suspicious Bundle — 
Another Disguise Essential to Safety — One Hundred Dollars Pass Like a Dose of 
Salts — Kindercut Personified Lowers the Dignity of Texan Valor — Whisky a Re- 
medial Agent in Desperate Cases — How Sary Concealed False Whiskers — Capillary 
Adornments Rather Expensive 114 



CHAPTER XV. 

Galveston in the background, and Lafitte's Fort tho hoped-for Haven of Safety — The 
Hand Bill — Short "Shutes " have their Impediments — "Devil's Hole " prepares 
for a Siege — Quagmires hold tight — Friendship in the rough not to be Sneezed at — 
Booty and Beauty — Rendezvous in the Cactus 119 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Thoughts of Home — Preparations to Reach it — Another Disguise — Trail of the Pursuers 
Discovered — Break Camp on a Venture — Embarkation under a Salute not Bargained 
for — Sea Fight — Skillful Maneuvering of a Small Craft — The Enemy Submerged, 
and all is over — Haven on a Rocky Coast 124 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Inaccessible Harbor — Backwoodsmen ever ready with Resourses — Perilous Ascent — Ca- 
tastrophe to a Heroic Adventurer — He finds a Watery Grave — Up or Down — Desper- 
ate Efforts for Life, or Certain Death — Visions of Starvation — A night of Horriblo 
Suspense 128 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Coveted Supplies Intercepted — Their Rescue at the Cost of Blood — Human Snakes — 
Feast Beside the Corpse of a Noble Scout — He Bequeaths His Body as a Decoy to 
Entrap the Murderous Band — His Death Terribly Avenged, and a Hecatomb of the 
Villains Follow Him to the Dark Waters — A Parley with One-sided Conditions — 
Again on the Tramp for Civilization — Arrival at the Crescent City 132 



CHAPTER XIX 

Revolution in the Order and a new Dispensation inaugurated — Disunion of the States 
the determined purpose of the Traitors — Return to St. Augustine — Exciting Scenes 



VI CONTENTS. 

— The Parson re-appears upon the Stage — He imparts most heart-rending intelli- 
gence — Wife and Child murdered and the Author desolate 137 



CHAPTER XX. 

Conspiracy to accomplish the Author's Death — Villainy under the guise of Friendship — 
A high-souled Yankee Wife Nohly defends her Virtue and baffles the purposes 
of a Southern Knave — His murderous attempt upon her Life — Poisoning of her 
Child — The Mother soon follows her to the Realms of Bliss 143 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Terrible Scene of Domestic Desolation — A Heart-broken Parent — Sorrow among the 
Tombs — Progress of Escape — Arrival at Charleston — Soldan of Galveston Castlo 
holds a high position in the Army of Rebeldom — Again in a Loyal State — Incidents 
in the Quaker City — Traitors in the North and their Disloyal Purposes—Northern 
Lovers of the Union, beware of the insidious wiles of Villains in your midst — Is 
coperheadism Democracy? — Conclusion 147 



ASTOUNDING DISCLOSURES! 



T E HJL IP L E S 



OF THE 



CHAPTER I, 

Introduction — Love of Right — The Author acquires his Education in the North 
— He Marries a Yankee Woman — Takes her to the Sunny South — Finds 
His Father a Knight — The Author Bitten by the Snake — Opinions of other 
Victims — The Serpent Jewel — Illinois Copperheads — Spies in the North — 
Reuben Stout — Atrocities of the Order — Court of Saint Hive. 

In the course of every man's career through life, opportunities 
are presented to him, when, if embraced, he may enlighten his 
fellow-man. 

The school of experience is a hard one, and has been most essen- 
tially so to the writer. Still, the hard lessons he has learned will 
not deter him from imparting to his fellow-men the knowledge he 
has acquired. 

Throwing aside all other lessons learned, some most pleasurable 
and others equally abhorrent to my innate love of right, I at once 
essay a theme, which duty to myself, mankind and my country, im- 
pels me to perform. 

" The Knights op the Golden Circle." — To add to the imper- 
fect history and workings of this institution already given to the 
world, I, who blush that it was my misfortune to have been lured 
into the meshes of tl\e most damnable organization ever conceived 
of outside of the lowest depths of pollution, propose to enter the 
inner temple, in which I have been time and again, and portray a 
few of the horrid scenes there witnessed. 



16 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

Before fully encountering the task I have planned, in my mind, 
it may not be amiss to say a word or two as to myself. 

Born of parents whose lot had been cast in a Southern section 
of this once great and happy Republic, and whose forefathers, from 
the days of the Revolution, had been honored with, and had given 
honor to, the high positions they held, by men whose offspring are 
now in open rebellion against the Union of their fathers' love, I 
passed the earlier years of my life in the Sunny South. Atlanta, 
Georgia, was the place of my birth; a pretty little town, and will 
so continue, unless the blight of secession overshadows it with its 
all-pervading curse. The circumstances of my father enabled him 
to give me an opportunity to acquire an education and to " see the 
world." 

In those days, to visit Charleston and New Orleans was the 
hight of my ambition. The visit to both was made, and I returned 
home. On the part of my mother it was suggested that I had not 
yet seen enough of the world, and that by all means I should go 
North and see the outside barbarians, called ''Yankees." Well, 
suffice it to say, I went to the " land of steady habits," to learn, or 
rather to teach the people there what we knew in the South, but at 
once I found I knew nothing. 

Disgusted with my ignorance, of which I felt conscious, I deter- 
mined to remain in the North until I could hear from home. I vis- 
ited Fanuiel Hall, the libraries and other noble institutions of Bos- 
ton ; took a trip to the Empire City, looked into some of her great 
manufactories, saw the shipping of her port, and wondered where 
all the boxes of dry goods, hardware and many other manufactures, 
came from, especially as I was impressed with the belief that to my 
native South all America, if not all] the world, was indebted for 
everything useful, needful or luxurious. 

Time rolled on, and remittances reached me from home, with per- 
mission to remain in the North awhile, if I thought I was adding to 
my store of knowledge. I thought so, especially as I had acquired 
a very good knowledge of the fair and intellectual daughter of a 
"Yankee." Enough, we were married. She wished to seethe 
Sunny South, and so did I. In a week or two she saw her mother- 
in-law, and I my mother ; but my father was not at home. He 
was on a visit, as mother informed me, to a conclave of the K. G. 
C. in a neighboring town. 

To me K. G. C. was all Greek. 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 17 

"You will have to join the order," says mother. "Your father 
will expect it, and so will all your friends." 

Before I had time to reply to mother, the door opened and in 
rushed my father. Though I at once recognized him, I was forci- 
bly struck with his manner and appearance. When 1 left home he 
was sedate, affable and courteous to all ; now he appeared a beinsj 
wholly unlike his former self. 

" Got back, Ned, have you ?" was his first salutation. 

I arose, offered him one hand, and with the other drew my wife 
from her seat, and introduced her to him. 

" Been getting married, have you. Hope you haven't brought 
any Abolition woman to disgrace our family." 

I told him that, though she was of a Northern family, neither 
she nor they were Abolitionists. 

"Don't talk nonsense to me; all Yankees are Abolitionists, and 
it has been so decided by our noble order of K. G. C. You must 
join the order at once, or I will disinherit you. Will you do so at 
our next meeting ?" 

Totally ignorant of the character and purposes of the organiza- 
tion, I, without hesitation, assented. Then was it that I fell into 
the coils of the venomous serpent, which soon, as I will relate, 
held me as a charmed bird within its baleful influence, until, by the 
blessing of God and the glorious impressions implanted in my 
bosom while in the North, I burst the accursed fetters, and once 
more stand erect as an American freeman, with the full determina- 
tion to expose, so far as in me lies, the hell-engendered machina- 
tions, orgies and purposes of that disgrace upon civilization, Chris- 
tianity and decency ; that emanation from the arch-fiend himself, 
when, in his bitterest mood, he would avenge his fall from the pres- 
ence of the Almighty — I mean the organization known to devils, 
and alas ! to men, as 

" THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE." 



Induced, as I have already stated, in an unguarded moment, I 
consented to become a " Knight," and through the influence of my 
father I was readily admitted to membership in the initiatory de- 
gree of the order. Step by step I advanced until the goal of in- 
famy had been attained. In my soul I was fully convinced that 



18 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

the career I was pursuing was most infamous ; but, having entered 
upon it, I determined to pursue it to the bitter end; and the proud 
satisfaction I now have is to atone for my error and persistence 
. therein, by thus warning others against falling into the infernal 
vortex that engulfed me, until the light of returning reason enabled 
me to escape from that sink of iniquity. 

As it is the intention of the writer, to defer for future chapters 
of his hastily written work, an exposition of the origin, purposes, 
rites, ceremonies and iniquities of the hell-begotten bands, who, in 
numerous localities constitute the Golden Circle, he proposes to 
prelude the leading subject matter of the book, with a few details 
of others, who, like himself, were ensnared by the serpent. 

An intelligent friend having learned that this work was in the 
course of preparation, has handed the following, as a hastily written 
statement of his experience with the " Knights : " 

" Having been a sufferer in everything by which pain can be in- 
flicted upon weak humanity, and all attributable to that hell-born 
legion of the Knights of the Golden Circle, who accomplished the 
destruction of my home, and were the cause, fell and accursed, of 
the murder of my wife and infant boy, a brother and a dear friend ; 
I believe I would be held recreant to manhood, did I not lay bare 
many facts which occurred in the immediate vicinity in which I 
lived for several years. The atrocious and damnable deeds prac- 
tised upon the unwary, weak and inoffensive people, who stood in 
the path over which these fell destroyers stalked, appals my every 
sense, even now, when my bitterest woes have been somewhat tem- 
porized by the hand of time, in its slow progress toward eternity. 
A sense of duty, like an incumbent necessity, demands that I should 
expose most fully, the infernal machinations which the Knights of 
the Circle employ to entrap their victims, or to ensnare those whom 
they afterward employ as mere tools, with which they inflict tor- 
tures upon all those who are opponents to this association; whose 
compact is a deed of horrid darkness, and one of such a desperate 
nature, that no man possessing a spark of virtue, could believe it 
born of earth. 

" Far and wide have these so-called Knights and their emissaries, 
traveled over this once happy land, planting their castles wherever 
the blighting cause of secession found advocates, and, like the ser- 
pent that charms its prey, the more readily to secure its capture, 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 19 

they have allured thousands of good but unwary men, into their 
meshes of destruction, from which but few escape. Take heed 
then, men of America, and be counseled, for these fiends are around 
and about you, gnawing at the very vitals of your liberties. You 
may not have seen its sycophantic smile and fair exterior, that 
when it would destroy you seems a very paradox of honesty. You, 
good and loyal reader, have cast your lines in happier places than 
have fallen to the lot of thousands of your fellow Americans ; for, 
although in New York and Philadelphia, and Boston and Cincin- 
nati, and even in such cities as Portland, Springfield, Albany, 
Brooklyn, Indianapolis and Detroit, there are feeble organizations 
of the Knights, a wholesome public sentiment has kept them in 
tolerable subjection. 

" But, men of the North, be vigilant, watchful as the angels of 
the night that guard you when devils plot and plod through dark- 
ness and light. From many, many woes and tortures — tortures 
that emaciate the body, unsettle the mind and damn the soul to 
eternal agony — I would save you ! 

" Can it be possible that any one who, having mind enough to 
comprehend the smallest things of earth, will deny that there. exists 
a horrid complot, a foul conspiracy that strikes at the very roots of 
our liberties, that seeks to rudely tear asunder the glorious legacy 
of a united brotherhood of States, that was signed and sealed with 
the best blood of our noble forefathers; that labors untiringly to 
disrupt our county and tear in twain our nation ? 

" Who will deny this ? 

"Do we not each day, as time speeds on, hear the morning gun 
and the evening gun of the enemy on our borders ? Do we not 
from every battlefield hear of tortures and wounds of our sons and 
brothers, and those who are dear to us % And the great record of 
the heroic dead ! On fame's imperishable tablets, the myriads 
of names that stand out in letters of light, of those who freely gave 
their lives an offering to liberty, prove that an effort of the most 
fiendish desperation, on a scale of hellish magnificence unprece- 
dented in the history of the world, has been made by the leaders 
of the secession movement, to undermine and overthrow, at all 
hazards, the Union and the Constitution. 

" Who will deny this ? 

" Who ? Why the Knight and the Copperhead — arcades ambo ! 
They are those who are the friends of the Union (as they want it), 



20 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

and the Constitution (as it never tvas and never will be). The 
Knights of the Golden Circle are the fathers and mothers of Seces- 
sion, and the Copperheads are their weak and sickly bantlings. 
They would not attack the Union nor injure the Constitution! Oh, 
no ! not they ! Like Judas, they would betray with a kiss ; and like 
Brutus, stab you to the heart while smiling in simulated friend- 
ship ! They are not bound by any compact, except with members 
of their own order, and all their oaths, and bonds and protes- 
tations to others, are made without faith ! 

" Who is «ihe foe that to-day flaunts a strange banner in our 
faces, as the emblem of a separate nationality in our young Re- 
public ? "Whose serried ranks menace our homes, and threaten 
to make them the scene of a bloody conflict? Do we know this 
enemy ? Is he merely the Southerner, who thinks his rights are 
assailed, and who fears an abridgment of some of his esteemed 
privileges ? Is it the disciple of the true democracy, who takes a 
bold stand for the rule of the people ? 

" No, no, none of these ! 

" On the red field of Antietam, there was an officer of exalted 
rank in the Southern army, whose hair of silvery grey gave dignity 
to his appearance, and whose counsels commanded the respect of 
his companions in arms. Among the marks of his rank, there 
sparkled a strange jewel, a golden serpent coiled in a circle, and 
crested with jet enamel. The eyes of the serpent were formed of 
beautiful diamonds, that fired and sparkled with every movement, 
of the wearer. The ornament conveys no riddle. The darkness 
of the night is black to our sense of seeing ; so was the crest of the 
serpent. The coil was a golden circle. What more simple? 
Knight of the Golden Circle ! But why the emblematic serpent ? 

"In the midst of the bloody slaughter of that bravely contested 
field, the man of the silvery locks and serpent emblem, led a divi- 
sion to charge the center of the Union army. He rode madly, 
and wildly urged his men to the fray ; but a movment on the part 
of the Northern troops to flank his command had escaped his at- 
tention, till he found himself hemmed in with only two regiments 
to second his efforts, the balance of the division engaged against 
great odds, and his situation was desperate in the extreme. At that 
moment, a new rallying cry from their foes, greeted the ears of the 
Union boys. 'Red Rose ! Red Rose ! to the rescue ! " Mark the 
result : The fire on the Southerners almost entirely ceased, and a 



m 



CO 

co 




KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 21 

General with two regiments, that were justly prisoners to the skill 
and prowess of the Union arms, marched away to rejoin their 
division, with little more trouble than they would have had in the 
ordinary evolutions of a dress parade ! The Red Rose is not 
peculiar, then, to the Southern clime. It blooms also at the North, 
and was represented in both armies at Antietam ! 

" In the Union Army there was a regiment known as ' One 
Hundred and Ninth Illinois.' Where is it, and what is its record ? 
It was raised in that gloriously loyal and truly patriotic State, 
nominally in response to the call of our Government for men to 
fight the battles of the Union ; but ye who. doubt the power and 
influence, and intentions, and damnable purposes of the Legion of 
the Circle, mark the result ! Every man of that regiment, from its 
colonel to the extreme tattered end of its last hanger-on, was con- 
nected with lodges, temples, or hives of the Knights ; and after 
betraying into the hands of our foes full details of all our plans, 
and assisting them to rob us of large' amounts of property, they 
went over, every man, — body, soul, and breeches, — to the army of 
the Secessionists ! Innumerable facts, of the same general charac- 
ter, are patent to the world. 

" Who conveys, in untranslatable cipher, or cunningly-devised 
hieroglyphics, information to our Southern foe of all our plans and 
movements ? We can not and must not shut our eyes to the humil- 
iating fact that they receive such information daily ; but how do 
they get it ? Spies sent from the South ? Never ! A thousand 
Southern spies could not effect, for the cause of Secession, what is 
now done for it, by those in sympathy with its foul purposes in our 
very midst. 

The serpent with the glittering eyes has coiled its slimy folds 
around weak men and bad men, at the North, and is dragging them 
away, unceasingly, to its great prototype and master, the devil. 
The serpent with the glittering eyes is the king of the Copper- 
heads ! They bow down to him, and do his bidding ; and grow 
weary with " watching over the border," that he may profit 
thereby. 

" Men of the North, beware of the serpent ! 

" What is the record of Reuben Stout, a member of the Sixtieth 
Indiana Infantry ? He, poor boy, was shot at Johnson's Island, 
in October last (1863) for desertion ; but, before his death, he made 



22 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

a confession. He was allowed to go home on furlough, and when 
there, he states with his dying breath, he was met by several Cop- 
perheads, who persuaded him not to return, and promised him pro- 
tection. They told him that it was a vile ' Abolition war,' for the 
benefit of the negro against the white man, or for negro equality. 
That the man who would fight in such a cause, lowered himself 
below the grade of the African. They induced him to join the 
Knights of the Golden Circle, and he states that one of the 
obligations of the order bound him to do all he could against 
the war, — to resist the draft, if one should be made ; and 
likewise to resist and oppose all confiscation and emancipation 
measures, in every possible way. The members were also sworn 
to stand by each other in all measures of resistance, and to 
do all they could to prevent another man or dollar going from 
the State for the further prosecution of the war. This was 
the lesson that men, who should have had discretion, taught 
this inexperienced boy; and, acting in accordance with such 
teachings, when a squad attempted to arrest him, he killed one 
of the party. Compared with those Indiana Copperheads, he 
was guiltless ; and they should have suffered the punishment. 
If the devil does not get them, there is little use of having a 
devil any longer ! 

" Of course, these references to individual cases will be under- 
stood as simply in elucidation of general facts. Incidents of the 
same character might be recited to the extent of an ordinary vol- 
ume, and even then leave the story incomplete. Still these facts 
are not appreciated. There is an undefined impression or slow 
belief in the minds of a majority of the people that there is some- 
thing wrong in the management of things; that there is a bad leak 
somewhere, but they are above believing in a conspiracy at the 
North, to play into the hands of the enemy. The plain, unvarnished 
facts are understood by but few, but with that few there is no mis- 
take. 

" Mark it ! 

"There is a powerful secession organization at the North, grow- 
ing daily more powerful, and using every means at their command 
for the success of the so-called Confederates. We may call them 
Copperheads, Knights of the Golden Circle, Butternuts, or whatever 
else we please, the facts lead to the same aggregate result, and the 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 23 

names are sufficiently synonymous to be included under one general 
classification. 

" Mark it again, men of the North ! 

"Not to leave any one in the dark regarding this writing, I 
have been for years a member of the Order of Knights. I knew 
the organization in its infancy, when the Secession of the Southern 
States was only hinted at in whispers among a chosen few; when 
not more than sixty men in the whole land knew ther-e was such a 
purpose in the mind of anybody ; and when, in all the cotton 
states but one, such an idea would have been scouted as the rankest 
treason. It is no freak of these latter days. It is older than South 
Carolina nullification, for that was the still-born offspring of its epi- 
leptic conception. Since that time, it has daily grown in strength 
and stature, spreading its, branches far and wide, until it has made 
its power felt in nearly every State of America. It is a powerful 
Order, and the danger lies in the fact that its power is vastly under- 
rated by the unitiated. 

" I have sufficient reason to know what its power is. I have 
seen it exercised in more ways than I have inclination to recite. I 
have known it to part husband and wife, parent and child, brother 
and sister, to tear asunder the bonds of the church, to murder the 
weak', and drive the indigent forth to starve ! I have seen it rob 
virtue of its brightest jewels, and murder chastity in sportive glee ! 
The.blood of its victims, sacrificed for opinion's sake, would float 
an pgosy ; and, altogether, the history of its crimes form a record 
so damning that it would disgust and appal a thousand generations 
of Neros and Borgias ! It has tracked me thousands of miles — > 
twice across the Atlantic, once beyond the Rocky Mountains, ovei 
half the States of the North, and its bloodhounds are to-day on my 
track, I have no doubt. 

" Less than a week ago, I recognized a peculiar sign made by a 
gentleman in the streets of the city where I am now writing. I 
answered it instinctively, without thought. He came close to me, 
and spoke as follows : 

" Up Court 3. On the white." 

" I bowed, and passed on. I walked slowly till I came to a corner 
of the square, and then I didn't walk slowly. I made all haste to 
my boarding-house, and changed my clothes completely, disguising 
myself in clothing I had procured for the purpose against a time of 



24 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

need. My informant had told me, in the above apparently-senseless 
message, that there was to be an immediate meeting of the Court 
Street Hive, for the reason that there was a Southern traitor among 
us. Too well I knew who that traitor was, and what the action of 
the meeting would be could they catch him. My life would not 
be worth praying for ; but they were not shrewd in the selection of 
a messenger to carry the summons, and so I have again escaped. 
my God ! how long shall such things prosper in a free country ? 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 25 



CHAPTER II. 

Renewal of Old Acquaintance — Who propagates the Mongrel Breed of Yellow 
Pine-colored Wenches and Mahogany Male Chattels — There are True Men 
North and South — Gin and Sugar an Infallible Remedy for Yankee Blood- 
letting of Southern Chivalry — The Author talks like a Plymouth Rock 
Boy — Scripture will not do for Slaves — A Yankee Wife Charms the Ire 
of a Veteran Knight. 

It was pleasant to be at home again, and I was disposed to enjoy 
life to the utmost ; for I was blessed with a jewel of a wife, good 
health, and a cheerful disposition. I remained very much secluded 
for several days in the enjoyment of home scenes and domestic 
comfort ; but, by degrees, I began to mingle again with old ac- 
quaintances, and to attempt the renewal of former friendships. 
Old acquaintances, however, were shy, and did not exhibit the 
cordiality of former years. They stood aloof and let me do most 
of the talking. All at once it occurred to me that they were watch- 
ing my expressions very closely, and I therefore made an attempt 
to place my mouth under guard ; but an occasional expression of 
admiration for something I had seen, heard or read about, at the 
North, would escape me in spite of all my precautions, and it soon 
leaked out, through some information conveyed to my mother, that 
I was " spotted," i. e., tinctured with Abolition sentiments. Of 
course, I denied such a charge as I would any base slander, and 
embraced every convenient occasion to stamp it with falsehood. 

Among the few interrogatories put to me by my quondam but 
now distant friends, I was asked if Northern men were not gener- 
ally wedded with negresses ; and when I assured them that such 
was not the case, I was met by that class of looks that certain 
people put on when they doubt your statements. 

<l Whar, then," queried one of my interrogators, " is all your 
amalgermationists ?" 

" I fear, sir," was my rejoinder, " that they exist practically 
only at the South." 



26 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" That's another d — d Abolition lie you have heard from the 
Yankees," he screamed, in great rage. 

In one moment I saw the blood flying from his nose, and he was 
bellowing like a mad bull. In another moment I heard the report 
of a pistol, my cap flew from my head, and a pistol ball traversed 
the crest of my cajmt, tearing the hair away, and raising an ugly 
welt as large as my finger. My first impression was that my head 
had gone with the cap, and actually looked around to see if such 
were the case ; but about that time there came a startling cry that 
I shall never forget. The maddened crowd had become perfectly 
infuriated, and they raised the shout of " Hang the Abolitionist ! 
Hang the d — d Yankee spy !" 

Had I acted on my first impulse, I would have made an inglori- 
ous retreat, but a second thought decided me to stand my ground, 
let the consequences be what they might. I mounted a cotton bale 
and waited. Soon as a few men were near enough, I said I wished 
to speak a few words before they proceeded further, and from what 
I knew of them, I felt sure they would not deny me a hearing. 
The compliment was rather graciously received, and it was inti- 
mated that I might proceed. 

" Now, boys," said I, " you all know that I have just returned 
from a long visit to the North, where I have enjoyed myself pretty 
well, for it was my first visit there, and I have seen many new 
things. I have learned facts that are worth knowing, many of 
which I would not have believed had I not seen them. I found 
in that cold land a degree of energy and unselfish enlightenment 
that stamps its people with the signet of a higher nobility than 
rank or wealth. A frugal yet hospitable people ; saving, yet gen- 
erous ; not rich, yet liberal with what they have. A calm, delib 
erate people ; if intense and warm in any one thing, it is an ardent 
and sincere love of country — revering the memory of Washington- — 
respecting the Constitution and the Rights of Man. A people 
sincere in their dealings, always carefully observing the golden rule. 
A sympathetic race, of generous impulses ; sustaining large benevo- 
lent institutions ; where the offspring of the unfortunate are pro- 
vided for, and taught the rudiments of an English education. 
These things all struck me as new, and deserving of credit. I did 
not expect to find them, and was so agreeably disappointed and 
favorably impressed, that I felt bound to do justice to a people that 
we have not properly understood. But if you think I have sur- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 27 

rendered one iota of my devotion to State rights, or the institu- 
tions of the South, you are mistaken in the man. (Cheers.) I 
was born here, and here is my home. Here live my parents, and 
here is my fortune. Let us all, however, reserve the right of 
respecting true men wherever we may find them." 

The crowd added another instance to the instability of popular t 
sentiment, by greeting the conclusion of this harangue with hearty 
cheers, and it was at once voted that I should shake hands and 
make it up all around. Nobody was backward at this except the 
gentleman my fist had wounded about the nose, and he very quietly 
subsided when it was discovered that the "make up" was composed 
of a liberal admixture of gin and sugar. As we were drinking, 
my father joined the party, and I saw him passing busily from one 
to another, in earnest conversation. After a time he came and 
took me by the hand. 

"Well, my boy," said he, " they tell me you have had a little 
brush and came ouf top ; in fact, that you did the gentlemanly 
thing altogether, and floored the party. The sentiments you 
expressed about the Northerners are all wrong, though. You didn't 
see but few, of the better class, and didn't get much acquainted 
with them. But come, the boys will excuse you now, and I want - 
to see you at home, where we can talk more at leisure." 

As we passed through the entrance hall, I met my wife, and 
thought I detected the traces of tears on her cheek. I was about 
to inquire the cause of her grief, when my father again urged his 
request for an immediate interview. I therefore repressed my feel- 
ings for the moment, and went with him. To my surprise, he con- 
ducted me to an unused room in the attic, and, after we were 
seated, addressed me substantially in these words : 

" You have always been a source of pride and satisfaction to me, 
my son. You have never been guilty of an act that has given me 
real pain, until you married a Yankee wife. I wonder why you 
did so, and am sorry that you did not advise with me first. But 
that is done, and can't be helped now, that I see. I am anxious 
that you occupy the position your station in life entitles you to, 
and, having that end in view, I have proposed you for admittance 
into one of the best and most honorable societies that ever existed. 
It is composed of our best men, and none others can ever become 
members." 

" I am sure," I replied, " that I feel very much complimented by 



28 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

this attention, and hope I shall prove deserving. But what is the 
object of the Society?" 

" The protection of our rights, — the security of our property, 
and our station in society." 

"But what rights have we more than other men, that need pro- 
tection?" 

" All of our rights, my boy, as Southern gentlemen, are more or 
less in danger." 

" From what ? " 

" Well, to come directly to the point, from the encroachments of 
the North. I suppose you will feel like combating this point, to 
some extent, but don't waste your breath on me. I know whereof 
I speak, and at the proper time you will see as I do. I am so much 
your senior in years, and your natural guardian, that it were not 
best for us to differ in opinion on a point where we will soon be 
forced to agree. There will be a meeting of the Society to-night, 
and I wish you to go." 

" Most certainly I will go, out of respect to your wishes, if with 
no other motive. But I am truly grieved, sir, that you do not ap- 
prove of my choice of a wife, and hope you will soon see cause to 
change your views. I look upon Lucy as a model of her sex, and 
you will share in my admiration, when you come to know her bet- 
ter." 

" No, Edward, I shall never like an Abolitionist, under any cir- 
cumstances." 

" Well, there I am with you, neck and neck," I replied, jocosely ; 
"but Lucy is no more an Abolitionist than yourself." 

" Tut ! tut ! All Yankees are Abolitionists and nigger thieves : 
and 'tain't two hours ago that I had to scold your darling for try- 
ing to beat some Scripture verses into little nigs' heads. A devil 
of a time we would have with them, if they were to get a little 
Scripture learning ! " 

" What did you say to Lucy, father ? " 

" Why, when I saw what she was at, I was mad, and told her 
I reckoned you didn't bring her here to run wild with the little 
nigs ; but, if you did, that she should have a canvass frock in wel- 
come, for I reckoned she wouldn't disgrace it. Now don't rile up 
so, Ed.; recollect I was mad, and couldn't help it." 

" Father, my wife is a lady, and you are a gentleman. The first 
part of this proposition we all understand well enough, but I fear 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 29 

she has some doubt of the integrant. Noav let me ask what you 
would do if a gentleman should speak thus to mother ? " 

"But, Ned, no gentleman would do — Eh? what was I saying? 
Well, 'pon my word. I think somebody has made an ass of my — 
my — himself, I should say. Let's go down and find the girl, Ned, 
and you apologize for me, there's a good boy." 

" Apologize for you, my father? No, not I. If an apology is 
necessary, I don't think she will receive it from me, and perhaps 
not from you." 

" What, not from me ? She won't fight, I reckon, so it's apology 
or nothing. You go and speak to her first, Ned." - 

As we reached the hall, I heard Lucy at the piano, and therefore 
led my father into the parlor. Tapping her on the shoulder to stop 
the music, I said : 

" Here is a gentleman, Lucy, that has changed his mind on the 
question of the canvas frock, and waits to tell you so." 

" Eh, eh ? Ned ! Now, that't too bad. Who said I had changed 
my mind ? " 

" I know you have not," said my wife, " for you did not speak 
your mind when you made that funny speech. No gentleman ever 
used such words, meaning them, and I am sure, my dear father, if 
there ever was a perfect gentleman, you are the one," and before 
he could divine her intention, she threw her arms around his neck 
and saluted him with a burning kiss. 

That and the " perfect gentleman " idea did the work completely. 
The expression on my father's face, as Lucy released him, was worth 
living many years to see. It was unlike anything I ever witnessed, 
and I knew there was a holy compact of love and faith between 
those two persons from that moment. The old man couldn't find 
words for some minutes, but finally he stammered out, 

" She aint no nig — eh ? — Abolitionist, I mean, after all, is she, 
Ned ? " and ran out of the room like an abashed schoolboy. 

" What a dear, kind, good old man," said Lucy. She would hear 
no explanations nor apologies from me, and looked upon the matter 
as entirely settled, without my intervention. 



30 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER III. 

Qualifications for Knighthood — Aristocracy the Standard — Initiation — Satanic 
Oath — Awful Scene in an Alabama Temple — How the Order Raises the 
Financial Sinews of War — The " Gray Cross " — The " Raven's Plume " — 
"Master of the Rose of the Circle" — Location of Lodges in Northern States — 
" Trust not a Coward where the Wind blows cold." 

Accompanied by my father and several neighbors, I set out soon 
after dark in the evening of the day in which the events related in 
the previous chapter occurred, to attend my first meeting with the 
Knights of the Golden Circle. At that time, I knew as little of the 
character of this organization, and its real objects, as an unborn 
child ; and, therefore, the conversation between my father and his 
friends, was like an unknown tongue to me. I had not learned, at 
that time, that words were mere arbitrary sounds, and that " black 
could be used to describe any other color just as well as the real 
name of the other color, provided the signification of the word had 
been previously changed by agreement. But I have since found 
that it is extremely easy, especially with Knights of the Golden 
Circle, to say one thing and mean another ! The peculiarity of the 
language they speak among themselves, would require a volume as 
large as Webster's Unabridged to fully explain, while the peculiar 
meaning they give to the words of our language, would drive all 
the lexicographers crazy. 

When we arrived at the place of rendezvous, I was introduced 
into a splendidly furnished apartment, where I found three or four 
gentlemen seated in anxious expectation of something they didn't 
seem to know whether they wanted or' not, and was told this was 
the retiring room for candidates that were awaiting initiation. It 
was a comfortable place to lounge, and I was fully content, especially 
as I found the other gentlemen were intelligent and disposed to 
converse. 

As their conversation, however, will possess no interest at this 
time for the general reader, I will not transcribe it, but give instead 



KNIGIITS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 31 

the important points of the initiation service of the Knights, as I 
learned them on this occasion. 

The person proposed for membership must be of legal age. If 
an old man, must be vouched for, as a pro-slavery Democrat with a 
straight record. If he is only of age, he must be known and recom- 
mended as favoring the extension of slavery by every means at his 
command. All candidates must be men of wealth, and, if living 
South, slaveholders ; therefore, a cardinal principle is to establish 
and maintain an aristocracy. 

It having been ascertained, upon examination, that he possesses 
the requisite qualifications, the candidate is conducted by the Pil- 
grim to the Sentry on guard. He, speaking in a smothered tone, 
inquires, 

" Who goes there ?" 

Answer : " A friend to the cause." 

Question : " What do you seek V 

Answer: "Admission to the temple." 

Question : " Where does it lie ?" 

Answer : " In the innermost secret chamber of the castle." 

Question : " How speeds the night ?" 

Answer : " It is well." 
' To which the Sentry responds : 

" Advance, then, and receive the oath of silence and secrecy." 

The figure 7 is then exhibited, which, translated, means : " The 
draw-bridge is down." 

The Pilgrim then enters, and passes through the ante-room into 
the castle, leaving the candidate in charge of the Keeper of the 
Gates of the castle, who places upon his (the candidate's) head a 
cap, the front of which extends down over the face, and shuts out 
everything from his sight. After this is accomplished, the Pilgrim 
returns, in company with the Provost, who, with great (apparent) 
difficulty, passes the candidate through the gate. 

When they arrive at the inner door of the ante-room, the Pro- 
vost strikes his sword against it, and it is immediately opened. 
Within a file of six men appear, two of whom bear strangely-fash- 
ioned lamps, formed of human skulls, and painted with fantastic 
shapes, that are thrown out in weird relief by the light within ; two 
hold heavy broadswords, with cabalistic inscriptions and strange 
devices, and two with skull and cross-bones upon a blood-stained 
cloth, fill up the measure of the noor devil's shivering agony. The 



32 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

vizor is then lifted, and the affrighted gnze of the novice fastens 
on a scene that freezes the blood in his veins. He had never imag- 
ined that hell itself could produce a spectacle so revolting to the 
finer feelings of man's nature; and for some temperaments, the 
fright of that moment is the nightmare of a lifetime. 

The Provost then addresses the candidate : 

" You seek admission to the secrets of a cause which will make 
your name, in ages yet to come, glorious in the bright page whereon 
the faithful historian records renowned men and famous deeds. 
Should you betray its trust to them we hate, a fate more terrible 
than death, itself awaits you ! We visit revenge upon the weak, and 
upon those who are innocent of your dread crime. All whom you 
love — your wife, your sister, your child, your aged mother, and 
everything on earth you call your own, all, all is forever lost to 
you if you breathe to mortal ear one word, or letter, or sign of the 
secrets we confide in you. Nay, more. If you ever write, or 
print, or engrave, or in any manner impart the least shadow of a 
hint regarding the secret signs, symbols, or purposes of this Order, 
your punishment shall task all the ingenuity of diabolical torture, 
to expiate your horrible crime. Forever hopeless, cheerless while 
YOU LIVE, will be your lot on earth — a starving miscreant, beggar, 
praying for death through years of torture ! You can not, dare 
not, shall not recede. From this time onward, we own and hold 
your very life ! You know the history of the Italian Carbonari. 
If you do not, neglect no opportunity to read it, until ycu know 
what tortures are meet for those who betray great trusts. Blood 
has been shed ere now in the dungeous of our castles, and it shall 
again before our work is done. Lives have been sacrificed, and 
they who speak against us, whether within or without our temples, 
shall perish like dogs, and the flesh of their bones become the food 
of buzzards and vultures ! 

" Both friend and foe alike shall find, 

" We keep our compact with mankind. 

" By shot and shell, 

" By sword and flame, 

" By draughts from hell, 

" We '11 keep our fame ! 

"Whoever dares our cause reveal, 

" Shall test the strength of knightly steel ; 

" And when the torture proves too dull, 




A " KNIGHTLY " ATTACK ON A UNIONIST — See page 59. 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 33 

" We '11 scrape the brains from out his skull, 

" And place a lamp within the shell, 

" To light his soul from here to hell. 

" What, ho ! a craven ! (Spoken in a very loud and startling tone.) 
Cut him down, my men, with your good broadswords, and let the 
milk from his veins — we want no cowards." 

The swordsmen raise their weapons aloft, and then comes the test 
of nerve. If the candidate wavers, or appears frightened, he is 
pricked unmercifully, occasionally drawing blood — and instances 
are known where the novice has been maimed for life, while his tor- 
tures were enjoyed at this rare sport ! 

After this amusing by-play has lasted till the worthy Knights are 
satisfied, the candidate is handcuffed and gagged, his legs being left 
free, and conducted to the large hall known as the KnigMs Temple, 
where every person present wears a helmet, with the vizor drawn 
over his features. As he is passed slowly by the Knights, attended 
by the Provost and six guards (who are known as Plebians), each 
Knight repeats, calling the candidate's name : 

" I know thee ; break not thine oath ! " 

.This part of the ceremony is very impressive, when properly 
conducted, and is very apt to set a man of sense to thinking. He 
begins to wonder, at about this time, if he hasn't wondered before, 
what all this mummery means, and feels that he wishes himself out 
of the scrape. The mist, however, comes at an unlucky moment, 
for at this point his vizor is removed, and the representation of a 
scene such as he never will forget, never can forget, meets his 
bewildered gaze. The machinery, figures, and all the surroundings 
are so perfect, it looks like an actual transaction, representing the 
death by hanging of a frightened candidate, who, having reached 
this point of the service, after several severe broadsword cuts and 
horrible bruises, refuses to proceed. The occurrence was real, and 
disgraces the annals of a temple in Alabama, in the dungeon of 
which the poor, helpless wretch was pulled up by a rope drawn over 
a pulley, while two hardened villains tugged up his legs, till the life 
was choked out of him. How many times since the same thing 
has actually occurred, I am unable to state ; but Knights have, on 
several occasions within my own knowledge, courted opportunities 
to re-enact the horrid murder ; and have assured me that nothing 
would give them more pleasure than to assist at such an execution ! 
{See cuL) 



34 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

The candidate now understands why his arms were pinioned, his 
mouth gagged, and his legs left free. The scene is fully explained 
to him, and all its devilish details dwelt upon with a gusto that 
devils might relish. The scene from which the sketch was made, 
illustrating the above statement, is in general use throughout the 
" Bivouac" of the Southern States, and especially is this true in 
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and North and South Carolina. As the 
novice gazes upon the fearful scene, the Knights slowly repeat, in 
unison : 

" Beware, or such shall be thy doom !" 

This is repeated three times, each time more solemnly than the 
preceding. On either side of him stand the two guards, bearing 
the skulls and cross-bones on a blood-stained cloth, continually 
moving them in the most favorable positions to attract his attention 
and making a display of a disgustingly nauseating character. 

These emblems are figurative ; the skulls representing death to 
Abolitionists, and the cross-bones death to traitors. 

Before the candidate, stand the two guards with drawn swords, 
and behind them is represented a piratical looking ship, typical of 
the slave trade. One of the Knights bears a crescent, which is in- 
tended to symbolize " A Growing South, " and its wearer is known 
as the Grand Knight, by those who have taken only the initiatory 
degree of the order. After the lesson of the Alabuma murder scene 
has been properly impressed upon the mind of the candidate, he is 
led rapidly three times around the room, followed closely by several 
Knights, and halted at the chair of the Crescent. The Grand 
Knight then addresses him in these words : 

" Sir novice, I perceive that you have been selected by our oath 
bound brotherhood for the performance of a great and noble duty ; 
but, in accordance with our rites, it is necessary that you join us 
and become firmly united in our cause. Are you willing to sub- 
scribe to our oath and conform to our customs?" (It matters little 
to the Knights whether the candidate is willing or not.) "After en- 
tering this temple, you can only depart from it a member of our 
order, or a corpse. " 

The candidate, trembling with fear, is then bound in irons, 
placed upon his knees, and compelled to repeat the following oath ; 
(the gag having been removed) ; while two "Post Captains of Ord- 
nance" stand with pistols aimed at his head : 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. S5 



FORM OF OATH. 

" I, (giving full name), do hereby most solemnly declare and 
protest, without any mental reservation whatever, that while living, 
I will give ray heartiest co-operation, my energies, my talents and 
my property to the cause of this order, be that cause whatever it may. 
That it shall be my duty, from which I will never retire, to sustain 
and cherish the institutions of the South against all adversaries. 
That in war, as in peace, I will cheerfully obey the Chief, and all 
subordinate commanders, of this or any other Temple, that may call 
my services into requisition. I do furthermore swear that I will 
never hold friendship with any one, save the slave dealer and owner; 
that I believe the poor whites in our midst are the enemies of our 
institutions, and can not be trusted; and that the sooner they are 
reduced to the condition of serfs, the safer will be our government 
and property. I do furthermore swear to bear hatred, that nothing 
but blood shall satisfy, against all men of the North who are not 
friendly to our cause. I also most solemnly declare to you, 0, 
Knights of Power, and, here upon my bended knees, I swear by my 
soul, and by the God who made it, that, should the " Stars of the 
South " ever separate from the North, I will at once hold myself 
in readiness to march forth with you to do battle against the North- 
ern foe. I furthermore swear to sow the seeds of hatred and re- 
venge against the Northern States, among all the men of the South, 
with whom I come in contact; and to stir up dissensions and quar- 
rels among Northern men, whenever I have opportunity. This do 
I further declare, that I will ever prove faithful and true to my 
fellow craftsmen ; that I will never betray to living man what I 
have seen to-night, what I have heard, nor whatsoever I shall here- 
after see or hear. Binding myself hereunto, without redress, to 
suffer any penalty this or any other Temple may choose to inflict, 
if I in any degree infract the letter, meaning, or any shadow of 
the intent of this my solemn obligation. This is my oa-th. " 

To which all the Knights assembled respond, " It is his oath. ' 
This is spoken three times slowly and solemnly, and between 

each repetition a large bell sounds a muffled toll. After which all 

exclaim, as with one voice : 



36 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Hear and record it. " 

After signing the Compact, which embraces the Constitution and 
By-Laws of the Order, and in which is incorporated the substance 
of the oath, the candidate is instructed in the various ways of 
entering a lodge. As these forms are constantly changing, for 
several reasons that seem sufficient to warrant a change, and as 
they were always somewhat different in different localities, I 
will not enter into details regarding them. " 

The initiation fee in the Castle where I was admitted, was fifty 
dollars, beside a tax of two and a half per cent on the total val- 
uation of the candidates' effects, which tax he was allowed to 
pay in twelve monthly installments. The tax assessed against 
candidates at our Castle in a single night, amounted to $9,2*10; 
and in some Castles, it has very much exceeded this sum at a 
single meeting; so the question of where the money comes from, 
to carry on the operations of such an organization, is very easily 
answered. The fund it accumulated before the breaking out of the 
rebellion, furnished "the sinews of war" for many a desperate 
scheme, that otherwise would have existed only in the theoretical 
brain of some desperate secessionist. 

After I had passed through the entire programme of the initia- 
tory degree, paid my fees, and pocketed the notice of assessments 
against my effects, I was coolly informed by the G. K. that I was 
as yet no Knight ; that this ceremony was merely conditional, and 
only fitted me to receive the degrees of a true Knight at a subse- 
quent period! That my station in society would enable me to ex- 
ert a commanding influence in favor of the order, and it was there- 
fore expected of me to name an early date for a full insight. I 
replied that I would, consider the matter before naming the time, 
and soon inform him of my determination. Without seeming to 
notice my remark, he called the Knights to order, and made the 
following announcements : 

"We will all meet here this day week to confer upon Edmund Wright 
the degree of T. F. 18. Every Knight must be punctual and vig- 
ilant. The guards will conduct our friend to the ante-room, as he 
is not yet entitled to be present at the ceremony of closing." 

I was immediately hurried away, with a protest half-formed to 
utter against this summary disposition of my free agency, but it 
was just as well I did not speak my mind, for I have since ascer- 
tained how useless it would have been. A novice in the order is 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 37 

not allowed to have any will, and a full-grown Knight is in little 
better position. 

It does not seem necessary for me to describe in detail the sev- 
eral degrees of this infamous league; but, for the purposes of this 
narrative, will content myself by explaining whatever technicali- 
ties I may find it necessary to use, at the time I employ them. 
The candidate passes through several gradations before he begins 
to fairly understand the true character and the true purposes of the 
Knights of the Circle. His situation in life may deter him from 
reaching the highest degrees. Few ever go farther than the " Grey 
Cross," the meaning of which is, the owner of slaves and favorable 
to the project of enslaving the poorer whites. If he reaches the 
" Raven's Plume," he is made a member of the navy, for " Raven's 
Plume," in the mystic vocabulary of the Knights, signifies the 
winds of the ocean. If he progresses far enough, he becomes 
" Master of the Rose of the Circle," which last baptism is inter- 
preted : Circle, i. e., veins; rose, i. e., blood; a blood-letter, which 
signifies that he may hold rank in the army. 

Very few attain to this latter position — only the sons of the most 
aristocratic and wealthy enjoy the high privilege. 

There is no mistake that from the very beginning the Knights of 
the Golden Circle were intended to be represented only by the rich, 
for, in the Cotton States, the rich man only has influence and char- 
acter ; but, at the North, the man of moderate means, in many 
cases, enjoys a social position that commands the highest respect; 
and therefore, regarding the question of wealth, the Copperhead 
requirements are modified in the Free States. 

According to the original programme, each State possessed a 
Grand Castle; at least this was the intention of the founders of the 
order; but for the whole six New England States there never was 
instituted but one lodge, the rendezvous of which was a dilapidated 
building, I think in Milk street. New York had nine — four in the 
country and five in the city. Pennsylvania had five — three in 
Philadelphia, on Chestnut, Callowhill and Eleventh streets; one at 
Pittsburgh, and one in the Lehigh Valley, I believe at Mauch 
Chunk. Ohio had three — one at Cincinnati, one at Dayton, and one 
at Columbus. Indiana had one at Indianapolis, one at Madison, 
and one at New Albany. Illinois — two at Chicago, and one at 
Cairo. 

So much for the Northern States in 1858 ; while in every South- 



38 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

ern State Castles weTe being opened in every direction, and the 
greatest industry was manifest in making proselytes to the doc- 
trines of the order. 

The Castles at the North were not as ably conducted as those at 
the South, nor entirely on the same plan. The ritual and forms of 
initiation for the North, although framed on the basis of the origi- 
nal, as used at the institution of the order, were essentially changed. 
The Northern Castles were principally organized by Southerners, 
however, although they did not think it expedient to trust their 
cooler-blooded brethren with their full secrets ; for in the White 
Book of the Seventh Degree appears a "White Plume," which 
means, in the fourth interpretation, " Trust not a coward when the 
wind blows cold." Which idea clearly signifies, and was so under- 
stood, that the Southerner has ever held the prowess of the men of 
the North in poor esteem. Some of them have recently had occa- 
sion to change their estimate of Yankee valor. 



CO 



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CfQ 
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OS 




KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 39 



CHAPTER IV. 

Adherexce to the Order, or Death — The South, Right or Wrong — Sectional 
Prejudices — The Test Oath — Illusions — The Author Astounded, but not 
Cowarded — The Flaming Serpent — The Final Oath — The Mission of Man, 
White or Black — The Fienddike Group — Knight of the " Columbian Star" 
— Sir Ass — Blasphemy of the K. G. 

During the week that intervened between my introduction to the 
Castle, and the time appointed to put me through another course, I 
felt 

" Like him that shoots up high, looks for the shaft, 
And finds it in his forehead." 

I felt guilty of some undefined enormity that would end in shame ; 
and so thoroughly was I convinced that facts would not belie my 
forebodings, I sought my father and expressed my desire to pro- 
ceed no farther with the Knights. The old gentleman was greatly 
troubled, and said to me : 

"You will feel differently after you have really taken a degree 
that has something in it. And then it is not possible for you to 
retract now; it will not be allowed." 

"But who will prevent me, if I am so disposed?" 

"Everybody that you saw at the Castle, Ned, will prevent you, 
myself included. There is no other course for us but to go ahead, 
and you must go, too." 

" If I refuse, what then ?" 

" To tell you the truth, my son, I hardly think you could persist 
in refusing, and live. A man over on Salt Creek refused to take 
the initiatory, after several warnings. He was finally notified that 
he must join without further ceremony ; but he sent word he would 
see them all d d first. In less than a week that man disap- 
peared, and has not since been seen, although his family has spent 
time and money to discover him. It was positively announced at 
our Castle, three weeks ago, that he would never be seen again on 
earth, and we know that such announcements are strictly true V 



40 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

"But, father, you do not approve of such things? It' can not 
be!" 

" Well, I don't know. Things have come to a strange issue. 
We must protect ourselves and our property ; and those who will 
not help us will help our enemies. This is the way we are forced 
to reason the matter, and every true Southern Rights' man will join 
the Knights without trouble. Those thaFwill not join, we know 
are not true to our cause." 

" Of course you do not doubt my fidelity to the South, and still 
I feel a strange reluctance to proceed in this matter." 

"You must overcome your reluctance, for it is necessary that we 
all work in unison ; and, although some things may appear strange 
to you, and some minor particulars absolutely wrong, I hold it is 
our bounden duty to ourselves and the glorious cause of our loved 
South, to form a close and invincible compact for the utter destruc- 
tion of our enemies. You must compromise with your objecting, 
and become convinced of what you will soon know to be the fact, 
that our cause is the cause of right and of justice, approved of 
God and our consciences." 

Poor, infatuated old man ! how bitterly was he deceived ! 

I saw the uselessness of further argument and the hopelessness 
of my position, in making an effort to suspend further progress 
with the Knights ; for the league in which my father had so strong 
a faith, and of whose power he had given me such horrible proof, 
would doubtless compel my presence and participation in their cer- 
emonies, nolens volens. I therefore replied : 

" Probably I have let imagination interfere too much with rea- 
son, for I am satisfied that you, my father, would not join, nor coun- 
sel your son to league himself with, anything dishonorable. I will 
therefore waive objections to the order, till I see more reason for 
them." 

"A wise decision, Ned ; and I congratulate you thereon. We 
must act together, and in union with our friends, or our cause is 
lost. Everything for the South is our motto." 

I will not disguise the fact that to a great extent I participated 
in the general enthusiasm for the South, and persuaded myself that 
the feeling was genuine patriotism. Such is the error into which 
thousands of better men at the South have carelessly fallen ; and 
the rock on which thousands of fanatics, in all parts of our land, 
have sought to founder the Union. Sectional prejudice was at first 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 41 

excited by the unholy ambition of a few unscrupulous leaders in 
the Cotton States, who pointed to the action of crazy Abolitionists 
as expressive of the sentiments of the Northern people ; and it 
was generally believed at the South, even at the time of which I 
write, that Northerner and Abolitionist were synonymous classifi- 
cations. And this feeling the Southern people persuaded them- 
selves, was genuine love of country, instead of carefully sifting the 
facts, in which event they would have made the discovery that it 
was only sectional prejudice, the unreasoning enemy of all good, 
the destroyer of peace and arch-fiend of discord ! But I did not 
participate as madly in this blind error as those who were without 
the benefit of observation at the North ; and hence my hanging 
back for the moment. 

But it was only for the moment ! 

When the day arrived in which it was appointed I should take 
another step toward knighthood, I was firm in my purpose to en- 
counter the fate my friends had predestined. I had smothered all 
scruples, silenced the qualms of patriotic emotion, and made every 
effort to believe with my neighbors that the North was our enemy, 
and took every opportunity to meddle with our institutions and 
abridge our rights. 

I was early at the Castle, but not in advance of any of the mem- 
bers. All seemed to be actuated by an untiring zeal in the service 
of the Order, and we were soon ready for operations. I was soon 
waited upon, in the ante-room, by two guides, dressed in robes of 
crimson velvet, bedizened with silver lace, and bedecked and bespan- 
gled with ruby stars and emeralds. The turbans on their heads 
were of the same material, and ornamented in a similar manner ; 
while their feet were shod in sandals of a strange fashion, and rich 
.with jewe.ls. They wore masks, but so perfectly representing the 
human face that I did not discover the fact until I saw the same 
ceremony performed with others, in after initiations ; but I was 
troubled at being waited upon by two strangers, and therefore 
watched their proceedings with uncomfortable interest. 

" Novice, " said one, bowing to me, " it becomes our duty before 
again admitting you to the inner temple, to administer to you, the 
Test ; and it is of the first importance that you faithfully heed its 
import, and truthfully abide its words. We have all taken it, and 
it is the pride and boast of every true Knight, that he has been true 



42 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

to its teachings. You will place your hands on this book, which is 
the Holy Bible, with us, and we will all repeat, one after the other, 

THE TEST OATH. 

" We, Novice and Knight, citizens of the South and champions 
of Southern Rights, do hereby and hereon, in the presence of each 
other and of Almighty God, Judge of the World, solemnly and sin- 
cerely pledge our lives, our faith and honor, to conceal and never 
expose to mortal being, except to true Knights, who have sworn 
to this oath, any circumstance or thing that may transpire in this 
Castle, or in any Castle with which we may be connected ; that we 
will not disclose the secrets of Knighthood to save life, friend nor' 
fortune, but that we will freely sacrifice life and everything dear 
to us if called upon to do so, for the perpetuity of the principles 
of our glorious order. That we swear death and destruction to 
Northern Abolitionists ; and that we will leave no means untried, 
to circumvent their schemes. In the name of God. Amen." 

The door of the entrance to the Tempie swung open, as we con- 
cluded this oath, and I heard the response from all the Knights, as 
if uttered with one voice : 

"In the name of God. Amen." 

Then the door closed and I was thus addressed : 

" We have no doubt of your fidelity and honesty of purpose, and 
if any thing should happen during the ceremony that is now 
about to commence, that would seem to call you in question or cast 
a doubt on your intentions, remember that this is the ceremony 
through which all Knights of our Order have passed ; and we 
number those among us, that the best and greatest are proud 
to associate with. You will now repair to the closet here to the 
right, where you will find a dress precisely like this of ours, in 
which you will clothe yourself; and when you have done so, indi- 
cate it by three loud and distinct raps within the door." 

As I entered the closet. I was struck with the strange appearance 
of all its contents — different from anything I had ever seen, and 
therefore difficult to describe for want of similes. One side was 
covered with an immense tapestry, on which was painted the fabled 
Sisyphus, tugging away at the eternal rock with Herculean strength, 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 43 

but ever resultless labor, adjudged to never-ending toil, or instant 
death from the recoil of the huge mass ! 

In a curiously-fashioned niche, stood a human skeleton, with arms 
sustained by some mechanical contrivance, and holding in the bony 
hands two lamps of grotesque shape that, when I entered, emitted 
a bright red light, but soon its rays were changed to a green of 
dazzling intensity, and so remained till I had completed dressing. 
As, following instructions, I rapped three times within the door, the 
color of the light changed to a sickly yellow, the tapestry of Sisy- 
phus gently rolled up, as of its own accord, and in the dim vista of 
what seemed a long and far-off colonade, I saw, as if suspended 
in mid-air, the circle of the Golden Serpent, bewildering in the 
brilliancy of burnished metal, and shooting flame from eyes and 
mouth. It was one of the most cunningly- devised mechanical 
effects I ever witnessed, and leaves an indelible impression on the 
mind. 

As I looked, I became lost in wonder — forgot where I was, and 
the object. of my mission ; in fact, was dreaming, when suddenly 
the bright serpent seemed to straighten, turn toward me, and extend 
its enormous fangs ; and before I had time to collect my scattered 
faculties, it made one prodigious leap to strike me ! I turned to 
flee, in the extremity of fear, when I discovered the floor beneath 
my feet was sinking, the lights were extinguished, and down, down 
I went, in utter darkness, down continually to a depth that seemed 
unfathomable, down to the very bowels of the earth, dark and 
cheerless as the realms of despair ! Down, down, down ! At last, 
there was a stop, easy and quiet, but far from satisfactory, for the 
darkness was oppressive, and the silence utterly desolate. 

I sat for a few moments motionless and silent, for some time was 
required to determine on a course of action, when I exclaimed 
aloud, 

" Well, if this is progression in Knighthood, I've had enough." 

Gods ! (mythological and earthly) the fright of that moment 
was almost the death of me ! The echo of my words had not died 
away ere the cavern was illuminated with a hundred brilliant jets ! 
I found myself in the center of a large room, superbly furnished, 
and occupied by forms of men or devils, attired in the most ridicu- 
lous and diabolical disguises, and armed with all sorts of weapons. 
One, with the form and manner of the Arch Fiend, gave me an 
unmerciful pricking with his lance, and howled in my ear : 



44 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Ho ! ho ! and so you're tired of being a Knight, eh ? The 
coward wants to retract !" 

With strange unison, and in voices solemn as the death-knell of 
hope, all the figures responded : 

" The coward wants to retract !" 

" What shall be done with the black-hearted knave — traitor to his 
country, and false to his God ?" shouted the first speaker. 

" Let him suffer the torture, feel the misery of the damned, and 
die the death of the abandoned miscreant !" responded the united 
voices of all present. 

" Hold, friends !" said I. " No really urgent wish to retract on 
my part ; it was only the desire for more light on what appeared a 
very dark subject ; and when you are ready to proceed, I will be 
prepared to go ahead — perge recta via." 

On the instant, all was darkness again. The mimic devils sat up 
a dismal howl, that extended into an attenuated wail of such con- 
centrated horror, that all hell seemed to have broken loose .' And 
as the horrid echoes died away in the cavernous depths of the great 
dungeon, the howl was again taken up, again the wail pierced my 
ears, and again the echoes ceased their blood-chilling reverbera- 
tions, only to be repeated in the same fiendish monotonousness ! 
When minutes had been extended into ages by the frightful pro- 
longation of this demoniacal ceremony, and my senses had begun 
to reel with abject fear, I was startled by a shout, uttered in a voice 
of thunder close by my ears, and, for months after, sounding in my 
dreams : 

" The serpent ! the serpent ! Look above you !" 

I looked up, and although I knew to a certainty that the effect 
was produced by mechanical arrangement, that the machinery was 
moved by my friends and neighbors, and that there was really no 
fear of bodily harm, I could not, for my life, suppress a great 
scream of affright as I saw that fiery serpent coiling down toward 
me, in mid air, lighting his course with bright flame from his mouth 
and eyes ! I made an effort to move, but I had been tied fast with- 
out knowing when it was done. I called on my father, and on 
my neighbors by name ; but the only reply was a mocking laugh ! 
0, the sickening agony of that moment ! If the damned are sub- 
jected to equal torments, every man should make haste to become 
a Christian. 

Down, down, coiled the serpent till I expected the flame he emit- 



KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 45 

ted would scorch me, and I screamed again and again. Down he 
came, nearer and nearer ; close to my head with a whizzing noise, 
straitened his huge proportions, and, like a flash, wound himself 
around my head and neck ! 

It was more than ordinary manhood could endure : I fainted ! 



When I was restored to consciousness, I found myself in the 
great room of the inner Temple, attended by my father and sev- 
eral friends. Their congratulations were loud, and many were sin- 
cere, but I detected some smiles in the crowd of which I did not 
fancy the complexion; and it seemed that occasionally'when the 
title of "Knight" was applied to me, it was wrapped in a sneer, 
and hurled at me derisively. I afterward learned that these suspi- 
cions were substantially correct. 

The Grand Knight now approaches, and taking my hand, thus 
addresses me : 

" Brother, I greet thee as a Knight, tried and true ; but in accord- 
ance with the usages of this and every other Castle, I have an obli- 
gation to administer, that I am sure, after what you have just wit- 
nessed and endured, you will not object to. It has been adminis- 
tered to every one now here present, and all have willingly bound 
themselves by it. Are you willing to be similarly bound ?" 

As I hesitated to promise before knowing the nature of the oath, 
my father nervously whispered in my ear : 

" Say yes, at once, Ned ; for God's sake, don't delay. There is 
no fooling at this point of the game." 

So I said, 

"Yes!" 

ATH. 

" Before God and these witnesses, I, Edmund Wright, a true 
man, of lawful age and Southern born, do swear that I will never 
reveal what I have this night witnessed, nor whatever I may here- 
after witness in the Castles or Hives of the Knights of the Golden 
Circle ; that I will keep sacred all the signs, grips, words, and 
tokens of this order, and never impart them outside of a Castle or 
Hive, except under urgent necessity, and to those only that I know 
to be good and true Knights of this degree. And furthermore, I 



46 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

fully and freely bind myself to each of the following obligations, in 
perfect good faith, and without the least mental reservation or eva- 
sion on my part : 

"1st. I swear and promise to conceal the names of the Knights 
of this degree, the objects and designs thereof, and never, under 
anv circumstances, acknowledge that I am a member, except to 
such as can give me their sacred word in a manner to leave no 
doubt that they are true Knights. 

" 2d. Whatever secrets may be given to me by a Knight of this 
degree, no matter what their nature may be, if imparted as the secret 
of a knight, and because I am one, I will hold the same sacredly in 
my own knowledge, and never communicate it, even if my life is at 
stake. I swear never to speak evil of a brother Knight, but will 
strive to extenuate his faults, if he have any, and magnify his good 
qualities on all occasions. I swear never to dishonor the wife or 
daughter of a Knight, knowing them to be such ; but will, on all 
occasions, consider them under my special protection. 

" 3d. I swear Jo oppose, to the utmost of my ability, the admis- 
sion of any confirmed drunkard, professional gambler, convict, 
felon, negro, abolitionist, minor, idiot, or foreigner to membership 
in this degree of the Knights of the Circle ; but I will induce as 
• many good Southern Rights' men to join us as possible. 

" 4th. As interference with the domestic institutions of the South 
is an enormous crime, condemned by all our laws, I solemnly swear 
that wherever and whenever I find an abolitionist in a slave State, 
I will do my utmost to hand him over to the proper authorities, who 
shall be Knights of this degree, if possible to find them ; or, failing 
to do this, I will kill or maim him to the best of my strength, and 
the means at my command ; so help me God ! 

" 5th. I furthermore solemnly vow and swear that in case a Pres- 
ident of the United States is elected, who is not a Southern Rights' 
man, and from whom any danger to our institutions may be reason- 
ably apprehended, I will do my utmost to destroy his power in the 
South, even to the taking up of arms against his authority ; and in 
case the Southern States decide to secede from the old Union, I 
swear to accomplish everything it is in my power to do, to effect 
this end. 

" 6th. I do furthermore solemnly swear that 1 will use my best 
exertions to discover every man with Northern sympathies in my 
county, and report the same to this Castle ; and I will keep a 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 47 

close watch on all such, and report all suspicious acts on their part 
at the meetings of this degree. If I learn of any stranger or trav- 
eler trading with negroes, or having any communication whatever 
with them, I swear to inform our Grand Knight at once, that a 
Council may be convened, and proper steps taken for the punish- 
ment of the offender. 

" 7th. If an insurrection shall occur, and it comes to my knowl- 
edge, I will do all I have promised above, or should my own or any 
other Southern State be invaded by Abolitionists, I will muster the 
largest force I can, and go to the scene of danger, if well and able 
to go. I further promise and swear to do all in my power to build 
up a public sentiment in my State, favorable to the expulsion or 
enslavement of free negroes ; and that no free negro shall marry 
with my slave, if I can prevent it. 

" 8th. I furthermore vow and swear that I will report to the 
Grand Knight the names of all Roman Catholic ministers in my 
county, as well as all Northern teachers ; and no foreigner shall 
ever receive this degree, one negative vote only being necessary to 
reject, and in all cases the vote must be taken before the candidate 
is approached. 

"■ 9th. I furthermore swear to exert my influence to reduce the 
condition of what are known as the " poor whites " with us, to the 
condition of the negro slave, firmly believing that that condition 
will subserve his interests, and the interests of the South." 

I hesitated at the last clause of the above, and the Grand Knight 
asked if I had any scruples about proceeding. 

"I am sorry to say that I have," was my reply ; " for I can not 
possibly see how the condition of the poor white is to be improved 
by reducing him (your own language) to the condition of the negro 
slave." 

This remark seemed to let loose the pent-up vials of doubt, sus- 
picion of my devotion to the cause, and determination on the part 
of the Grand Knight to yet more closely enfold me in the toils of 
the serpent. Darting from his position, with eyes glaring with 
rage, and his whole countenance distorted, he approached me as if 
to throttle me. 

"Hands off, or by the living God, despite your positon in the 
Order, I still possess manhood enough to defend myself." 

Cowarded by my self-possession, he dropped his uplifted arms 
and yelled, as only a fiend could: 



48 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Reduce the poor white man to the condition of a slave ? Is not 
his condition already worse than that of our negroes? In the esti- 
mation of my slaves, he is but ' poor white trash,' owning nothing 
and dependent upon his daily labor for a miserable livelihood, while 
your father, you, and I are lords of the soil, and labor does not, nor 
should not, sully our higher birthright." 

Stung to the quick at his foul scandal upon poor white men, I 
scornfully replied : 

" You, one of the lords of the soil ? Why, the poor white man, 
or even the negro, who tills the soil, and by his labor and enter- 
prise elicits from his mother earth the food that sustains you and 
me, is filling his mission on that earth, far better, in accordance 
with the decrees of an overruling Providence, than are they whose 
idleness tempts them to devise schemes, concocted in hell, to blast 
the progressive aims of man, be he white or black." 

I paused, and astounded at my audacity at having thus given vent 
to my innate convictions of right, I glanced, timidly in heart, but 
defiantly in purpose, at the lowering countenance of the Grand 
Knight, who had stood silently biting his lips while I made the short 
speech, so annoying to his aristocratic ideas. 

Contrary to my expectations, he made no rejoinder ; but casting 
upon me a scowl of malicious contempt, he moved mechanically to 
a remote part of the room. 

Intently watching his motions, I observed him raise his hand and 
violently jerk a cord, suspended from the ceiling, and almost simul- 
taneously I heard the solemn sound of what might be a muffled bell 
reverberating along the depths of subterraneous caverns. Immedi- 
ately a trap-door raised, without any apparent human agency, and 
from the opened gulf issued a group of moving beings, in appear- 
ance unlike any shapes seen on earth or dreamed of as denizens of 
hell. 

The foremost of the fiend-like shapes bore a lantern formed, in 
the main, of a human skull, surmounted by cross-bones, at the 
junction of which was a human heart, from which, by some devilish 
contrivance, blood was flowing, so as partially to obscure the light 
from that beacon of imagined death to the awe-struck beholder. 

Immediately following the lantern-bearer, came another shape 
(if shape it could be called, that looked unlike any form seen before 
by mortal eyes), bearing a broad-axe streaming with gore. He was 
followed by a third, as hideous as the others, and whose insignia 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 49 

of office was a hangman's rope coiled around his misshapen car- 
case. 

In this hellish-looking group, well might I imagine my impend- 
ing fate. 

At the bidding, by sign, of the Grand Knight, the trio advanced 
to the center of the room, and the Grand Knight hastily con- 
fronted me. 

" Wavering and irresolute man, will you, in spite of the scene 
now presented to your gaze, falter in your duties to the South, 
and its most cherished institutions ? You are already too far 
under the influence of our noble and powerful Order to hope for 
escape. Are you willing to proceed to the attainment of further 
knowledge in the great mysteries and purposes of the Circle ?" 

" If the object of the Order be for the benefit of my whole 
country, South and North, I will advance, under your direction, 
and take the oaths of obligation as imposed, provided they do not 
conflict with my honestly-formed convictions of what, as an Ameri- 
can citizen, I owe to my fellow-man, let his home be in the South or 
North." 

"North !" yelled the G. K. " Executioners, perform your mis- 
sion ; seize the Yankee Abolitionist. Brothers, approach and 
witness the just doom of a recreant coward." 

On the instant the room became thronged with knights, who 
rushed from every recess of the murky chamber ; for the only light, 
as I should have stated, came from the skull lantern, barely suffi- 
cient to. make darkness visible. 

" Proceed to the performance of your high commission." 

The trio approached me with evident timidity ; but a fiend-like 
glance from the G. K. imparted determination to the hearts of the 
death-dealing crew. The lantern was flaunted in close proximity 
to my face, as if to appal me with its skull and cross-bones. The 
gory ax was uplifted, but I was firm and quivered not. 

The fellow with the rope now advanced, and by a most dextrous 
movement had me encoiled in his meshes of hemp, the uppermost 
coil materially interfering with my powers of respiration. 

M Now we have the dastard !" shouted the G. K. " Brothers, 
witness the consummation of our noble Order's decrees." 

Then 

" There arose so loud a yell 
As if all the fiends from Heaven that fell 
Had raised the banner-cry of Hell !' 



50 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

The G. K., with a look that seemed to penetrate my whole soul, 
said : 

" Are you ready to pass through the ordeal presented ?" 

Intimidated, as I must confess, by the scenes that surrounded me, 
I succumbed, and replied : 

" Let your emissaries of real or feigned assault upon my person 
depart, and I am ready to proceed to the end." 

In a moment the horrid trio disappeared, 'and the room was gleam- 
ing with light. 

At once the Knights surrounded me, and the first to speak was 
my father : 

" Son, thou hast acted nobly ; self-possessed and fearless, you 
have proven yourself worthy to be a true knight. Listen to and 
ponder well the tenth and final obligation about to be administered 
to you." 

The G. K. now confronted me, and in a subdued but emphatic 
tone pronounced the following obligation : 

" 10th. I, Edmund Wright, born of Southern parentage, and reared 
in the love and veneration of nil the high-born institutions of the 
Southern States, and especially that of negro slavery, do now swear, 
in the presence of Almighty God, and of my brother Knights here 
assembled, that henceforth I will devote all the energies of my soul 
and body, without mental, physical or moral reservation, to the 
cause of the South; against all aggressions upon her institutions 
by Abolitionists of the North ; and that I will regard all residents 
of the Northern States as Abolitionists at heart, and therefore in- 
imical to the best interests of the South. And furthermore, 1 swear 
that the contemplated severance of the existing Union of the States 
is an imperative duty which I owe to my God, to the South, and to 
the natural supremacy of mind and social position over the mud- 
sills of humanity, be they black or white; binding myself to this 
oath under the severest penalties it is possible for the mind of man 
to conceive, or human strength and skill to execute. So mote it 
be. In the name of God. Amen !" 

" So mote it be. In the name of God. Amen!" is responded by 
all the Knights, three times repeated. 

The G. K. then smote me with a sharp blow from his sword, and 
exclaimed; 




"pledge of the three — See page 85. 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 51 

" Arise, worthy Knight of the Columbian Star, and salute your 
peers and brothers." 

One of the guides instructed me in the performance of this cer- 
emony. He conducted me to a far corner of the inner room of the 
Temple, opened a small door, and introduced me to a splendid 
dressing-room. I was here clothed in helmet, a complete suit of 
armor, and presented with a handsome sword. The guide then re- 
conducted me to the room we had just left, which had undergone so 
decided a change in my absence that I imagined for the moment we 
had entered a different apartment. The matter, however, was soon 
explained to my senses. The walls of the inner Temple were in- 
geniously draped with a heavy material, and painted in imitation 
of large columns and elegant frescoes. By a common mechanical 
contrivance, the drapery had been rolled up, disclosing a great 
number of niches in the real walls ; and there, on my return, stand- 
ing erect, still and silent, was a Knight in each niche, with helmet 
and armor like my own. The light was tempered to give this scene 
a very dramatic effect; and, as I was led three times around the 
Temple, giving me full opportunity to appreciate the best effect of 
such an exhibition, it occurred to me that I had never witnessed 
anything more solemnly grand and imposing. The armor was beau- 
tiful, and the helmets, each one of them surmounted by a golden 
crescent, in the center of which sparkled a brilliant jewel, looked 
like the crowns of true knights, who deserved to be engaged in a 
good cause. 

This exhibition over, I was conducted to the center of the room 
and placed on a small platform. The G. K. then spoke as follows : 

" Brave Knights ! another star is added to our glorious constella- 
tion, and asks for a niche in the Temple of our heroes. Shall he 
ask in vain the reward of brave deeds at the hands of brave men?" 

In unison of voice came the reply, slow and stern, from all the 
Knights : 

"We carved these places for ourselves. Let yonder Knight do 
likewise." 

" And so shall he," quickly responded the G. K. "Your hand, 
my brother. Come with me, and I will show you how brave deeds 
are rewarded here." 

Hand in hand with the Grand Knight, I resumed my march 
around the Temple. As we were making our second circuit, we 



52 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

heard a voice that sounded as from one buried in the masonry of 
the walls : 

"Ha! ha! a new Knight, but a coward ! I'll fight him with a 
wooden dagger." 

We stopped, and as I turned to look for some explanation of this 
strange challenge, a large sliding panel was moved aside, disclosing 
a beautiful throne, arranged in a niche, with a thousand fantastic 
decorations, and different in size and all its appointments from 
those occupied by the other Knights. Before the throne stood a 
strangely-appareled being, with helmet representing the head of an 
ass, and a huge wooden dagger in his hand. 

" Ho, there he is ! I smell his milky blood and chicken heart !" 
howled the beastly creature. " Most worthy Knight, why bring 
that child to me?" 

" He is no child, Sir Ass, as thou wilt find. He wants the throne, 
and with the sword of his knighthood will make good his claim to 
it, or die the death." 

" He shall die the death !" shouted Sir Ass. 

" Go to your fate," said the G. K., addressing me, " and may 
God defend the right." 

" May God defend the right," responded all the Knights. 

I allowed myself to be pushed within the enclosure occupied by 
Sir Ass, and he stepped down to my level, bearing his wooden 
sword. Although I felt weak in the knees and imagined that my 
huge antagonist would soon crush me, the events I had just wit- 
nessed were sufficient to teach me that backing down would not 
help the case. I therefore determined to meet the issue with all 
the grace at my command. 

The fight had every appearance of an earnest conflict, with life 
and death in the scale. Sir Ass was master of the weapon, and 
wielded it with a show of address that elicited my warmest admira- 
tion. After making a few passes that, to my poor judgment, were 
a wonder of skill and adroitness, he struck my sword aback-handed 
lick that sent it flying to the very ceiling, and left my arm wrenched 
and disabled. 

" Down, coward !" he cried. " Beg for mercy before I drink 
your blood ! Ha ! ha ! The craven squeal of the poor baby will be 



rare music ! 



f" 



KNIGIITS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 53 

" Hold !" commanded the G. K. " Brothers ! a Knight is in dan- 
ger. To the rescue, Knights. of the Star!" 

" To the rescue, Knights of the Star !" was the general shout. 

And they came with speed. Sir Ass was disarmed in a twink- 
ling ; and, before I had time to see how it was done, his strangely- 
helmeted head was rolling at my feet, dripping with gore ! It looke d 
like murder; and, well as I now know how the effect was pro- 
duced, I can not, at this moment, recur to that barbarous scene 
without a great shudder of horror. 

In the confusion the body was hurried from sight, so that, when 
I looked for the bleeding trunk, it was not there. The discovery 
was immediately made, however, that Sir Ass' successor must be 
elected at once, and I was not much surprised at my personal pop- 
ularity when it was announced that I had been unanimously ele- 
vated to that position. I was conducted to the beautiful throne 
and placed upon it, with all the ceremonies and congratulations 
that men are accustomed to bestow upon the most famous. And 
then came a lecture on my duties ; commands to be firm in the 
cause ; threats of vengeance if I wavered ; promises of great trusts 
and substantial advancements if I remained true — altogether mak- 
ing a pot pourri of blessings and damnings, whose principal ingre- 
dient seemed to be brimstone. 

I have known for a Ions time that it was brimstone. 

Then came the closing ceremonies, which, as they were very com- 
monplace and silly, I have no occasion to record. 

The only point that struck me as strange was the G. K. asking 
God to bless the Order and sanctify the hearts of its members. If 
such a thing as unpardonable blasphemy ever existed, it was then 
and there. 



54 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER V. 

Schemes of Knights holding high Official Positions in the Federal Capital — How 
Stephen A. Douglas was Slaughtered by them — Red Rose Breckinridge 
flaunts the Emblems of Treason under the nose of an Imbecile President 
— Floyd, Toombs and Wigfall — Beauregard's intended Castle at West 
Point — Dirty George N. Saunders — J. D. B. and C. L. V. — A Cairo Rebel 
Youth and a Peddling Spy — Terrible Atrocities on Tombigbee River — 
Union Men and Women Smothered in a Cave — Blair, an inhuman Fiend, 
renders his account to the Prince of Darkness — 'Liza and Little Jack — The 
Brains of a Child distributed. 

Thus far I have endeavored to " show up," briefly, the existence 
and inside workings of a mighty political organization, that is at 
this moment secretly but industriously delving to undermine the 
Government of our fathers. It is backed by wealth and power. Its 
members stand in the halls of Congress, occupy positions of honor 
and profit under the very Government they are plotting to subvert; 
paralyzing our efforts to uphold the dear old flag, by employing 
every means at their command to convey information of our plans 
and movements to our armed foe. 

They are scattered throughout the length and breadth of our 
land — in every State, in every large city, and in many of the larger 
towns — discouraging enlistments, counseling opposition to the 
draft, advising repudiation of taxes, and poisoning public senti- 
ment with all the murderous intent of an assassin ! 

They are the originators of conspiracies ; the disciples of habeas 
corpus; the " Not-another-man-nor-dollar " party of the North. 

They are the foe in our midst, by whose insidious arts the minds 
of thousands have been embittered against the model Government 
of the world ; by whose machinations the pure, fresh patriotism of 
our youth has given way to an indescribable longing for some imag- 
inary substitute of Republicanism, that will remain with them " the 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 55 

evidence of things hoped for," till they find that " hope deferred 
maketh the heart sick." 

You will find them daily on the streets and in all public places, 
holding their victims by the button-hole and filling their ears with 
tales of strange invention, corrupting love of country, and trans- 
forming it to sectional hate. 

They are in our midst, like wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting 
only for the darkness they foretel and pray for, that they may 
drink our blood ! 

They are drinking our blood now ! 

Our blood, that flows in the veins of our sons and brothers, who 
now stand before the enemies of our flag ! 

They feast on the life- current that flows from the patriot's 
wounds, and rejoice at the wails of his dying agony. This in 
America to-day, under the aegis of freedom ! 

There can be no denial of these unpalatable facts, for have 
we not their effects fully upon us now ; and have they not 
influenced the entire conduct of the present war ? They made the 
war. Who will deny that the Knights of the Circle broke up the 
Charleston Convention ; and that the breaking up of that assem- 
blage was a foregone conclusion with them for weeks before its de- 
liberations commenced? Who does not know that four years pre- 
viously they defeated the popular candidate of that convention, 
Hon. S. A. Douglas ? 

John C. Breckinridge was, and still is, one of the great lights of 
the K. G. C. He is indebted to the order for his nomination at 
Cincinnati on the Buchanan ticket, and for subsequent political ad- 
vancement ; and it is more by virtue of the " Red Rose " than any 
virtue of his own, that he now holds rank in the Confederate army. 
While Breckinridge was Vice-President of the United States, he 
publicly wore, in the City of Washington, the emblematic jewelry 
of this traitorous Order, — thus shamelessly parading his treason to 
the Government of which he was one of 'the principal officers! 
The same of Floyd, and Toombs, and Wigfall, and all their genus. 
In fact, Wigfall boasted publicly of the extent and power of the 
Order, and indulged in statistical enumerations of such a character, 
at Willard's, that it became necessary to close his mouth by special 
convention of such members of the Senate as had the inside track 
of the legislative cabal, and were entrusted with the keeping of the 
Order at the Capitol. 



56 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

Beauregard attempted the organization of a Castle at West 
Point, and really made some progress ; but discoveries were made 
in time to discourage the carrying out of his purposes, and his re- 
moval prevented the renewal of the attempt. It is stated that 
some inkling of the designs of the Order reached the Government 
through these West Point operations, and that P. T. B. saved his 
distance only by the most dishonorable compromises of fact ! He 
is doubtless one of the most industrious and scientific liars in the 
Southern Confederacy, and must have had large experience. In 
making this statement, I write from personal knowledge of a single 
fact and a thousand falsehoods ! 

Flyod was the great light of the Washington Sanhedrim ; and, 
without doubt, "J. B." was his prophet. Geo. N. Saunders was 
intrusted with important commissions in the scavengers' depart- 
ment; and evidently felt honored while doing the dirty work of a 
few political hacks whose motto was " rule or ruin." Saunders was 
never trusted, — never admitted to important degrees in the League 
of the Circle ; — and never considered worthy of position with 
Southern gentlemen, except to come at their whistle, and go at a 
jump when they cried " seek him ! " As a dog, he has filled his 
position faithfully, and greedily devoured the crusts and bones that 
have been thrown to him from the Secession table. 

J. D. B. proved himself a bright conspirator very early in the 
history of Golden Circles, and has held the position of chief fugle- 
man, at the North, since the war commenced. He has said but lit- 
tle, and his hand has not been seen in the game ; but he has played 
boldly, with his all at stake. His death, politically, is certain as 
his physical dissolution when he stops breathing, unless the South- 
ern Confederacy establishes its independence. This he knows, 
and, with all the shrewdness of an old gamester, he is managing 
his trumps. C. L. V. was jealous of the prominence given to Jes- 
sie, years ago ; and, with a fool-hardiness that astonished the most 
hardened of the Copperheads, he took a position, and uttered sen- 
timents, that at once placed him in direct antagonism to the Gov- 
ernment, and neutralized all his influence for mischief, — because, 
forsooth, the people are honest, and will not be led into error, ex- 
cept by chicanery. If the latter deserved banishment, the former 
should have been hung higher than Haman, years ago ! 

I am reminded not to deal in personalities. For myself, I would 
like to point out, by name, hundreds of people at the North, who 



w 







KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 57 

have done more toward prolonging this accursed war, in the inter- 
est of Secession, than thrice the same number at the South have 
accomplished ; but my publisher threatens to scratch all such items ; 
and incidents, without name or date, must therefore suffice. 

I knew a man, in Indiana, sufficiently to recognize his counte- 
nance when I meet him (although I have never learned his name), 
that has been in the rebel capital, at least five times, since the be- 
ginning of the rebellion. He is a noisy Copperhead, and a leader 
among the Knights of the Circle, in his town. He has always re- 
joiced when the arms of the Union met with disaster ; and con- 
stantly predicts the dismemberment of our country. He admires 
Jeff Davis, and exalts him above every other man, which is going 
further than any Southerner I ever met. In fact, a majority of the 
people of the South express disappointment in Davis, and would 
gladly see another in his place ; but this Indiana rebel "out-Herods 
Herod," and would scout such an idea. Since the elections in In- 
diana and Ohio, I learn he is more quiet, and that he has abandoned 
the project of an immediate repetition of his visit to Richmond ; — 
I suppose from the fact that he promised the Northwest to the 
rebels, when last there ; and they will not readily discover that he 
has fulfilled the contract !• 

There is a youth at Cairo, whose recent history should furnish a 
short chapter in this record ; but, to make it complete, he should 
be more prominently individualized than my restrictions will allow. 
Perhaps enough of my readers will recognize a rough sketch to 
enable them to extract the fangs of the viper. He is a tall youth, 
with uncommonly broad shoulders, full face and blossoming pro- 
boscis. A very open countenance is partially hidden by red mus- 
tache and goatee ; while a huge guard chain and seals astonish 
every beholder with the immense respectability of the wearer. 
The youth has a wife (?) at St. Louis, mostly, although it is said 
he occasionally has one or two elsewhere ! 

When Cairo was threatened by the rebels, some two years ago, 
this valiant youth made a plan of the Union defenses there ; and 
showed therein, to a demonstration, what any fool could not help 
seeing, with the facts at his disposal, that a very small force could 
approach the town from the North, and possess it, in spite of any 
opposition the troops there could make. This plan was placed in 
care of a rebel spy, who had been amusing himself during the day 
by peddling cakes and apples among the troops, with no idea that 



58 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

he was known and spotted almost from his first entrance into the 
Union camp. As he was hurrying away, his course was interrupted, 
and Mr. Spy, with the diagram of the Cairo fortifications .in his 
shirt pocket, slept in the guard-house that night, where he managed 
to slip the document through a crack in the floor, undiscovered ; 
and from which he was honorably discharged, next morning, be- 
cause the evidence was thought insufficient to warrant holding him. 
The document was afterward found ; and then a sleepy soldier, 
who was on guard during the imprisonment of the suspected reb, 
"allowed that was what he seed the peddler poking through the 
crack ; but he was mighty sleepy and didn't notice much." 

It is not to my purpose to moralize on the awkwardness of the 
proceedings in this case. The writing of the contraband document 
was immediately recognized as that of the tall, broad-sholdered 
youth, although it bore no name. It was decided to arrest him on 
this evidence, and he was arrested ; but, when the matter came up 
for investigation, the naughty paper was non est, and several in- 
terested individuals were gratified with the discovery that there was 
more than one Copperhead at Cairo, and that the uniform of U. S. 
was not positive proof of a man's loyalty! 

Since this event, the youth has been more careful ; but he has 
continued to work industriously for the success of the rebel cause ; 
and Jeff Davis has no more faithful slave than this Egyptian dough- 
face. There are eyes upon his movements now, however, that will 
detect rebellious lapses, and eventually hand him over to the fate 
that will soon make the cultivation of hemp a more profitable em- 
ployment. 

This youth is the G. K. of the Cairo Knights. 

There is a case of a woman in Cincinnati who has smuggled 
thousands of dollars' worth of quinine, and other articles, for the 
use of our enemies, since the war began. She was detected once, 
and dismissed with a reprimand! What cares she for anything the 
" mudsills " may say ? Her husband is a Knight, and, when the 
Confederacy triumphs, he will have a position, and madame will be 
a lady. 

But why make particular enumerations ? Facts are patent to 
the most ordinary comprehension that the worst rebels, and most 
insidious enemies of our country, are at the North. Of course, 
it is not here we witness the scenes of persecution and blood that 
have earned for the Southern Knight the name of bandit and mur- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 59 

derer. It is not here we meet those red-mouthed ranters, who ad- 
vocate the doctrines of Secession, without sugar-coating, or other 
new-light nostrum, to deceive the people. But in the North, we 
find the foe in ambush, or entrenched behind a secret order, whose 
deliberations are masked from the public gaze, and whose acts are 
the triumph of devils and the glory of hell ! 

Can anv one who is informed, doubt the devilish origin of the 
Knights of the Circle? Had you been with me, to witness what I 
saw on the Tombigbee River, in the year of grace, 1861, when en- 
tire families were driven from their homes, as. though they were 
beasts of prey, or outlawed felons ; driven to the woods and caves 
and swamps ; old men, and weak women with infants at the breast, 
driven into the waters of the swollen river, to escape death by the 
trampling of horses' hoofs, as they came rapidly charging on the 
defenseless refugees ; driven to a death little less horrible, — for I 
saw, at one time, seventeen men, women and children, drowned in 
that river, while fleeing from those they had for years been accus- 
tomed to look upon as their friends and neighbors; and, of the five 
who reached the opposite bank, two were shot dead by their pursu- 
ers, as they emerged from the waters tired and worn by their effort* 
to swim the rapid stream : 

Had you been forced, as I was, to assist in the stripping, tor- 
turing, and " final disposition " of an aged and respectable citizen 
of my native county, — a man that had been looked up to for 
half a century as one as the wisest and best; who had filled to 
to the satisfaction of all who knew him, offices of honor and 
trust in our community ; and who was now found to be obnoxious 
to the new-lights, because he could not indorse their their opin- 
ions : 

If you could have seen the cruel and bloody murder of six brave 
men and women, in a small cave, in Southern Georgia, — attended 
by all the cruelties a savage would wreak on his most hated foe; — 
the shooting to death of innocent men and lovely women, in per- 
fect wantonness : 

Could you have witnessed so much of the workings of the Ser- 
pent in the Circle, you would not hesitate to agree with me that 
such an institution can not deny its devilish paternity, or that it 
is daily fulfilling the mission of its great progenitor. 

But these little circumstances are only ordinary incidents in the 
history of the Knights, — of such frequent occurrence, except the 



60 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

last named, that they are no longer sufficiently exciting to please 
the tastes of the Crusaders ; and their teeming brains are con- 
stantly at work to devise new plans of torture for the adherents 
of the Union. The murder of these people in the Georgia case, 
was a diversification of the general mode adopted by the chivalry 
to regulate the consciences of loyalists, and is deserving of par -J 
ticular mention. 

At the point of the tale where the reader's interest is excited, 
full fifty horsemen were pursuing the party of six, also mounted, 
down the beautiful alluvion of an immense bayou. The chase 
had been long ; the horses were miserably jaded and blown ; and 
the riders of both parties seemed ready to drop from their sad- 
dles from exhaustion. It was a fearful sight : three men and 
three women, fleeing for life, before fifty reckless and blood- 
thirsty scoundrels, armed to the teeth, and exulting in an oppor* 
tunity to commit murder in the name of law, — to shed blood with 
impunity, in the name of that foul abortion, the Southern Con- 
federacy ! The refugees espied a small cave across the bayou, 
overhuno 1 by projecting rocks; and at once made choice of it as 
the ark of their safety. It is their only hope ; and, under a mur- 
derous fire from the pursuing force, they cross the shallow stream. 
One of the females of this doomed party was terribly wounded by 
a pistol shot that struck her as she reached the opposite bank ; 
and to my dying day I shall not forget the expression of hopeless 
a cony on her fair countenance, as she turned toward us. She 
dropped the reins, threw up her arms wildly, and seemed about to 
fall ; then, with a sudden effort, she grasped the mane of her gal- 
lant steed, and urged him into the cave. The persecuted six, with 
their horses, were out of sight in a twinkling ; and I felt like thank- 
in f God for their escape. They had not escaped, however ; for 
unhesitatingly the mob plunged into the stream, and urged their 
beasts to the opposite shore. 

"By hell, Blair, they are too deep for us," said a swarthy fel- 
low, in white. " They are out of reach, now." 

"Out of reach? No! I tell you, no ! Damnation, man! do 
you suppose Pete Blair will be fooled now, till Andrews, and all 
the Andrews crew, have been sent to the devil ? No ! " he roared, 
in a voice of thunder, "not while there's powder and lead and 
cold steel, and courage enough to use them, left in Georgy. Out 'o 
them saddles, and what I tell ye to do, do that, and nothing else." 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 61 

" But, Blair, let's save the wimmin," said white coat. " I don't 
feel right to run down defenseless females, and take their lives ; 
and we havn't any right to kill 'em. Shoot both the Andrews 
Abolitionists — " 

" By God, man ! do you preach to me ? Off that horse without 
another word, or I'll scatter your crazy brains where you'll find it 
inconvenient to scrape 'em up again. Down, all of you, and give 
me your pistols. There, now ; all of you to work, and gather 
brush and dry wood to pile at the mouth of this hole. I'll smoke 
the groundhogs out, or roast them alive !" 

The commands of the villain were rapidly obeyed, for all knew 
his desperate character ; and, in all that crowd, there was not a 
man that did not fear him. While the men were thus busied, Blair 
amused himself by firing the pistols into the mouth of the cave ; 
occasionally indulging in a boisterous laugh, as he discovered his 
shots were taking effect on the poor victims. He fired low, with 
the intention of maiming, so the agony of the poor wretches would 
be prolonged. In response to nearly every shot, came a piercing 
scream, followed by a groan of agony. It was rare sport for the 
slave trader, and he gloated over it, like an epicure over a choice 
morsel, indulging in oaths and gratulations too disgusting to re- 
peat. 

A huge stack of faggots was soon piled at the entrance of the 
cave, and there was lighted the funeral pyre of six as brave souls 
as ever suffered martyrdom for opinion's sake. There were mur- 
dered six gallant lives, because they loved the institutions of their 
fathers, and were loyal to the Government founded by Washington. 
But the work of vengeance commenced then and there, for one of 
the unfortunate victims succeeded in crawling forward to a position 
where he took certain aim, and sent a bullet crashing through the 
brain of the monster, Blair ! The big rebel fell heavily, and was 
dead on the instant, for I stood near, and turned him over at once 
to discover the extent of the wound. He breathed, perhaps, 
slightly : but by no other sign intimated that the moment before he 
was full of life and brute force, and the terror of fifty desperadoes. 
Life flickered for a second or two in the uncouth socket, and then 
a human soul went out into the darkness of death, to encounter the 
dread uncertainties of a hopeless eternity ! 

The men gathered around the dead monster, and gazed upon 
him shyly, evidently treasuring the recollection of his great power 



62 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

and determination while in life, and astonished that even death 
should master him. It was a strange picture, — rough and uncouth, 
without doubt, in many appointments, and horrible in detail ; but 
who shall say it was not the appropriate finale of a bad life, hur- 
ried to its doom without an opportunity to repeat the acts of which 
it even now carried the damning evidence of guilt to the great 
judgment? The men came nearer; and when they found that 
Pete Blair was really dead, they gazed into each other's faces with 
stupid wonder, muttered unmeaning comments on his fate, and 
roughly criticized the demoniac expression of his grim visage. 

" Pete and old Andrews will have a close race on the road to 
hell !" said white coat. " But Pete is entitled to odds, for he is on 
foot, and Andrews has a beast." 

I was astonished at such a speech on such an occasion, but more 
than half, of those present set up a boisterous laugh at what they 
seemed to consider a good joke ; and the hilarity of the occasion 
was greatly increased by similar remarks from several of the party. 

"The devil will certainly resign when Pete gets there," said 
John Morrow; " or, mabbe he'll take him in pardner, and increase 
the business. With such a devil as Pete would make, we'd have a 
hell worth talking about !" 

" Mr. Devil must look sharp for his niggers," said another ; '' for 
Pete will cheat him out of the lot in a jiffy, if he allows any trade 
at all. He sold me a nig onct for tu thousand, and then told my 
neighbor, Joe Pierson, that that nig had the smallpox. Joe tried 
to raise hell, and have the nig killed or tuk away ; but Pete come 
around jest in time to buy him back, for five hundred. He 
could n't pay no more, kaise he could n't afford to lose no more on 
one nig ; but the same week he made the same kind of a trade with 
that very nigger, along with Miran Curtis, — gittin' tu thousan' 
agin, and then buying back for five hundred. The truth is, thet 
nig was posted in the smallpox business, and was wuth a fortune 
to any sharp trader, like Pete. He made a world of money with 
him." 

The crowd laughed and cheered. In their estimation, no mor« 
fitting eulogy could be passed on the dead ! 

" Well, boys, 'spose we put him under," suggested White Coat. 
" We may as well plant him here, right now; and then we'll poker 
for his hoss and nigs, unless we can agree on a division. I'll tak« 



13 
<*3 







KXIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 63 

the gal, 'Liza Jane, if you're all agreed, and you may fight out 
the balance." 

" No yer don't, by God !" shouted Bill Streeter, who was a small 
trader in contrabands. " Yer don't take thet gal wile I'm alive ; 
shore; an' don't yer try it on." 

"Pshaw, Bill," responded white coat ; "I didn't 'spose you'd 
have Pete's cast off trash, at any price. In course, if you want the 
gal, I've nothen' to say, only thet you'll get her and keep her, in 
spite of everybody." ■ 

" That I will, shore. Dus any man say contrairy ? " 

No! 

It was immediately manifest that Bill Streeter was now the bully 
of the mob, ex-officio. The " coming man " had arrived to assume 
the leadership of these peoples, and the care of 'Liza Jane. There 
he was, a great miserable, whisky bloat, with pistols in his belt, a 
huge butcher-knife sticking in his boot, and an immense whip but- 
toned to his sides, as the badge of his profession ! He was there, 
shore. 

Bill Streeter, I am sorry to record, is not the type of a small 
class at the South. He is a representative man in Southern soci- 
ety, whose peers and confreres give shape and tone to public sen- 
timent, and manage the politics of Governments ; who direct and 
control the Secession elements that are now 'warring against free- 
dom ; who 

" Treason and murder ever kept together, 
As two yoke-devils, sworn to either' s purpose ; 
Working so grossly in a natural cause, 
That admiration did not whoop at them ; " 

Who are the devil's servants, and, as Knights of the Golden Circle, 
wear his chosen livery ! 

" Dig a hole in the sand there, to plant Pete Blair in," said 
White Coat; "and then we'll proceed to business; eh, Bill?" 

" Throw old Blair on the fire and let his damned carcase roast ! " 
said Streeter. " We can't fool away time with a clead scoundrel, 
like him." 

And before a few of the better disposed in the mob could inter- 
fere, Blair's pockets were rifled, everything of value stripped from 
his person, and his bloody remains pitched into the fire with as 
little ceremony as though he had been a worthless log ! 

This was the funeral of a Knight of the League, as conducted by 



64 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

his brother Knights and compatriots in the cause of the South. 
Can the institutions that sanction such proceedings ever prosper? 

Then, in sight of his smouldering flesh and bones, these inhu- 
man devils sit in a circle to divide the dead man's effects. Pete 
had no relatives ; and therefore these, his best friends, were the 
natural inheritors of his estate. Streeter took direction of mat- 
ters, and, without so much as asking leave, chose for himself the 
quadroon girl, 'Liza Jane, and the pet horse, Devileye. Nobody 
thought of raising an objection. He then -asked the crowd to nom- 
inate two persons to play a game of poker for the second choice ; 
and, after much noisy profanity and foul recrimination, White Coat 
and Charley Lowndes took their seats in the ring, produced a 
greasy " Mississippi Bible," and went in for a share of the spoils. 
White Coat a-head, and he chose a mulatto girl that he told me, in 
confidence, was as good as the quadroon, only not quite as well- 
looking. 

Then John Morrow played with Charley, and won the black stal- 
lion ; and so on, ' till every member of the gang had possessed 
himself of some relict of the departed bravo. I wished to decline 
participating in this horrid ceremony, but Streeter swore every 
man should go in regularly for his share, or fight ; and, knowing 
the odds were very largely against me, I went in, of course. I 
chose a young house-servant that I knew very well, merely as a 
matter of form, never, for a moment, expecting to take him ; but, 
when we returned to Pete's ranche, Streeter led him out and handed 
him over with a style that told me, plainly as it could have been 
expressed in words, that I would refuse him at my peril. 

The ceremony of announcing Blair's death, and the immediate 
parceling out of his estate, on our return, was a singular admix- 
ture of the tragic and comic, that made an indelible impression on 
me. When the quadroon was iuformed of her master's fate, she 
replied: 

" Golly ! don't tell ? Mars' Pete dun gone dead ! Ump ! if nig 
told dat, wud be dam lie ! " 

"Haw!" laughed Streeter; " thet's good. 'Liza Jane don't 
yi'ieve Pete's gone tu hell. It's a shore thing, gal ; an', what's 
more, you're my nigger." 

" Your nig, Mars' Streakery ? oh, no ; no, no ! doan't say dat, 
good Mars' ; doan't say dat! " 

" Don't ? Why not, you Satan's imp ? I Bay you're xnj nig f 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 65 

shore; an' ef yer breathe a word agin it, I'll string ye up, by 
God!" 

"No, Mars' Streakery, I'se not gwine ter say no more gin' it; 
but, good Mars', let me ax yer, whose nig's little Jack f " 

" Who got .' Liza's Jack, boys? Did anybody take him? No? 
Wal, somebody must, fer I'm damned ef I keep the brat. • Divide 
once more, an' see who gets him." 

' Liza was Jack's mother, and the dead Blair was his father ! He 
was seven years old, and a very smart little curley-headed, brown- 
cheeked rogue — carrying the impress of his mother's beauty and 
his father's health, in his handsome face. He was the very apple 
of his mother's eye, and she had made it her special mission, since 
his birth, to see that he was well-cared for, and shielded from all 
harm. When Streeter made the heartless announcement that he 
would part the mother and child, 'Liza darted across the yard, 
where little Jack was enjoying himself at play with other children, 
and grasping him in her arms, ran, with the fleetness of a deer, to- 
ward the woods. She had made a bad reckoning, however, if she 
stopped to reason at all ; for Streeter at once bounded into his sad- 
dle, and pursued her at full speed. In such a race there could be 
but one result. 'Liza was soon overtaken, felled to the earth by a 
blow from the huge fist of the maddened villain, who kicked and 
pounded her, in a very frenzy of rage, till she was insensible. He 
then seized little Jack by his long hair, remounted his horse, and 
rode back to us at the same breakneck pace. The screams of the 
boy were truly heartrending, and but few in that crowd that did 
not express their horror of such a proceeding; but the climax of 
dreadful crimes was yet reserved to freeze the blood of every man 
present, who had a spark of humanity left in his heart. Streeter 
rode up to the assemblage, cast the boy with great force to the 
ground, dismounted, and seizing him by the feet, swung him in the 
air two or three times around very swiftly, and then, with all his 
strength, brought the tender infant head crashing against the horse- 
block ! The little fellow's brains and blood were scattered in the 
faces and on the clothing of those who stood near; and the scene 
presented at that moment was one of the most startling horror ever 
witnessed out of the infernal regions. Pitching the lifeless corpse 
into our, midst, the monster yelled: 

" There he is. Yer kin divide him now without trouble, shore, 
an' git ekil shares ! " 



6Q KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

"Bill Stroeter ! " shouted Charley Lowndes, "you've done a 
thing now that the devil himself will be ashamed of. That's mur- 
der, or I'm a liar ! " 

" Hush, Charley," said an old man, standing near me. " We 
have had blood enough for one day, and we can't spare you yet." 

Several of the more peaceably disposed now interfered, and in- 
duced Streeter to go into the house. He was led along like a mad 
bull, under keepers, or a jackal that had just scented blood, and 
was crazy to feast on it. 

" Something must be done with the boy," suggested Charley. 
" ' Liza will get back in a little while, and it won't do to have Jack 
lying here then. We must plant him out of sight." 

One of the men wrapped the murdered boy in a coarse blanket, 
and bore him away beyond the cabins. About a dozen followed, 
myself among the number ; and in a beautiful ravine, shaded by 
cypress and palmetto, we buried the mangled body of the innocent 
child, just as the sun was shedding his last faint rays over the 
homes of men. That little grave is in the State of Georgia, a mon- 
ument of more significance to-day than any marbl3 shaft within her 
borders ! I saw 'Liza no more ; but can faintly imagine the scene 
when she returned, and found the light of her life extinguished, 
and herself the forced paramour of her child's murderer ! My God ! 
can suqh things be, in this age of enlightened liberty? 

As we came up from the burial of Jack, we encountered a scene 
of a far different character from any I had yet witnessed. Quite 
an assemblage was gathered around White Coat and a bright mu- 
latto woman, and the sport was rare, judging from the shouts of 
laughter that greeted us as we drew near. 

'.' Certainly, Jule ; yer my nigger. Yer the first choice of the 
lot, and I was bound to have yer at any cost," said White Coat. 

"Wat yer want uv me, boss? Yer ain't got no fam'ly, an' I 
doan't like ter lib wid a bach'lor, kase people might talk, yer 
know." 

" But we'll soon hev a family, Jule, and then you'll hev plenty of 
company, for thar's a heap of people on my place. You'll — " 

" Well hev fam'ly, did yer say ? Who'm we f You, mars', an' 
me, Jule? Whoop! Haw! haw! haw! dat beat de debbil!" and, 
with a sudden spring, she clasped White Coat about the neck with 
her great arms, and throwing her legs about him, above the hips, 
she forced him to one of the spiciest embraces a white man ever 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 67 

received. At the same time she slobbered great Ethiopian kisses 
on his face and lips, interspersing the ceremonies with wild yells 
of delight, and sharp kicks in the neighborhood of his strongest 
emotions. Her poor victim was in a perfect ecstasy of rage. He 
swore and threatened and begged by turns ; still the somber kisses 
and the wild caress. 

Of course, the spectators of this performance enjoyed it deli- 
ciously. They yelled and screamed and squealed, and threw them- 
selves into grotesque positions ; and, withal, it was a scene that 
beggars description, and would require sufficient canvas for a pan- 
orama to reproduce. 

"Wal, mars', yer's nigh gin eout," said Jule, at length, " an' 
reckon yer had 'nuff dis. Dar's no use in world bein' mad an' 
bitin' yerseff, for wat's dun is dun gone, shore. Yer won't hurt dis 
nig, mars', will yer, ef I let's yer go ?" 

" Hurt yer ! damned if I don't cut yer black throat !" screamed 
"White Coat. 

" No, no, he shan't hurt yer," said a chorus of voices. " Kiss 
him jest a leetle more, Jule, and then let up. We'll take car' of 
km!" 

Jule kissed very slyly, then braced herself and gave a powerful 
spring backward. She struck on her feet in good order, but White 
Coat went summersaulting backward like a sugar-hogshead, mak- 
ing many hopeless efforts to preserve his equilibrium, and finally 
brought up posteriorwise, with his head butting a turpentine bar- 
rel. The crowd gathered about him as he straightened himself to 
his perpendicular, and the great cheer with which they rent the air 
was lustily given. 

The poor victim was mad enough, but he had the good sense to 
restrain himself, and finally joined in the laugh. 

"Any man that wants that nig., for five hundred, kin jest take 
her, and be damned," said he. 

" Then, she's mine," shouted Charley Lowndes ; " and, gentle- 
men, remember she's under my protection. You will all agree that 
she was put up to do this little thing that's jest over, and she's not 
to be harmed for it." 

" All right, Charley ; we'll see fair play ;" and Lowndes was at 
once the popular man of the crowd. 

It may be wondered why I, who make some professions of de- 



68 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

cency, was a witness of the horrors I have herein very imperfectly 
described. I was induced to join this God-defying mob, only by the 
argument the wily and unscrupulous slave-driver always uses : Force ! 
Blair had been a negro-trader for many years ; had imported several 
cargoes by his own personal exertions, and was rich from the spoils 
of blood. His associates were of his own stamp ; blood-thirsty pi- 
rates, and heartless scoundrels ; secessionists from interest, and 
Knights of the Golden Circle in due sequence. 

This delectable crowd raised a hue and cry against the fealty of 
James Andrews, Senior and Junior, and Robert Thompson, old citi- 
zens of Georgia, to the sacred cause of the South. This, however, 
was all sham, and the real cause of enmity a matter of a quite differ- 
ent description. Blair had defrauded Andrews by selling him three 
negroes, that he warranted several years younger than they were ; 
and a vexatious law-suit was the result. The day for final trial drew 
nigh ; and Blair, discovering the weakness of his defense, and prob- 
able discomfiture, swore that Andrews should die before the session 
of the court. 

He devised many plans to destroy the life of his victim ; and 
spread the report industriously, that he was an abolitionist of the 
most objectionable stripe. Such a report, once believed, was equiv- 
alent to a sentence of death ; and, among the mob controlled by Blair, 
it gained easy credence, of course. 

On the day in which the scenes I have just described were enacted, 
a spy, employed by Blair, had made the discovery that the two An- 
drews and Robert Thompson, with their wives, were riding to a dis- 
tant friend's, to spend the day. The mob was immediately mounted 
and started in pursuit, pressing into their service all stragglers and 
chance equestrians they found in their course. I, being among the 
stragglers, was forced to accompany these scoundrels, and unwill- 
ingly assist in one of the most heartless murders that stains the an- 
nals of crime. 

My description does not do it justice, but enough is described to 
show the diabolical purposes of those miscreants, who assume the 
name of Knights to cover their damnable transgressions of justice 
and right. 



UftttK8ttSRUBn89BfBK3!E09tt& , BtJB&LHN/IB&i 




IllPliJl I'lliiil n 



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Hill! i 'lilJlJ to!: 



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KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 69 



CHAPTER VI. 

Credulity of a noble veteran Southerner — Perception of a Yankee Wife — She 
outgenerals in argument her newly-knighted Spouse — The Turning Point 
— St. Augustine Castle — Commission for the Establishment of new Tem- 
ples — Villainous Designs, most widely known, the sooner exposed. 

" Once a Knight, always a Knight," is a standing axiom of the 
Order. When you go in, you know not what you are doing, but 
are led along step by step, to assume obligations, word by word and 
sentence by sentence, that every honest man would scout with 
scorn, could he see them as a whole and scan their tendencies de 
liberately. 

A few days after I had taken the obligation of the Columbian 
Star degree, I sat down to think the matter over, and the more I 
thought the less I liked it. 

There was no point from which I could view the machinery of 
this institution, and obtain a favorable impression of its objects. All 
looked dark, bloody and seditious ; and I felt that I had engaged 
in a cause that would never find favor in the sight of God. 

My father, poor old man, had evidently been actuated by the 
best of motives in connecting himself with the order, for he looked 
upon it, as did thousands of others, as the only salvation of the 
South. It had come to be a very popular belief that the South 
needed an extraordinary amount of salvation, and her chivalric sons 
were not slow to pledge themselves in her behalf. 

I would gladly have conferred with some one, my father in pref- 
erence to all others, regarding my doubts of the efficacy of the 
Knights for good ; but the obligations I had assumed, and by which 
I then felt bound, debarred me this privilege. I was sorely troubled, 
without prospect of relief, when it occurred to me that, under cer- 



70 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

tain restrictions, I might talk on the subject with my wife. I there- 
fore introduced the subject in the most embarrassing form, by 
saying : 

" Lucy, I wish to tell you a secret." 

" Really, husband, you almost frighten me. A real secret? I 
had no idea you would keep anything from me — a secret, espe- 
cially." 

" Confidentially — for your ear alone ; mind now, not a word to 
another living soul. I have joined the — " 

" Knights of the Golden Circle," she interrupted. " My ! what 
a secret ! I've known that ever since it happened, and have wanted 
to ask you, several times, what they do at their meetings, and what 
they did with you, dear man, when you first went. Tell me all 
about it now." 

" I can not tell you that ; it is a secret." 

"But you wanted to tell me a secret, and haven't done it. Pro- 
ceed, if you please." 

" I am not allowed to tell, even if I wished. And then it is not 
an Order in which ladies are supposed to be interested." 

" Probably not ; but you are not doing acts you are ashamed of, 
I hope?" 

"I can not even answer such a question as that." 

" Indeed ? What a horrible society ! But, Edward, you do not 
give me credit for sufficient perception. I can see that you are 
troubled, and that your trouble commenced when you connected 
yourself with these Knights. You will not deny that there is 
something wrong about them, and that you prefer to be released 
from the obligation of your compact. Recollect that an obligation 
taken under constraint is not binding on your honor nor your con- 
science ; and that, if you are convinced it is wrong, the sooner it 
is retracted and repented of, the better for you and all that love 
you." 

" Your words assume more than I am prepared to admit ; but I 
will say to you, what I would not have another living soul hear 
from my lips, for the world, that I do not like my connection with 
this league, and would retract, could I do so with safety and honor." 

" The time will surely come, then, when you will find the con- 
servation of safety and honor in no other course. I have regretted 
your union with this order from the beginning, because I saw its 
principles were not in accordance with yours, and that the incon- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 71 

gruity occasioned you much annoyance. Your countenance and 
acts told me all this, as plainly as words could have told ; and, if 
you do not want all the world to know what troubles you, you must 
wear a better mask." 

My wife had really outgeneraled me, and knew all my weak 
points. I had nothing to tell, for she already knew more than I 
would then impart. 

Troubles, it is said, never come singly. My father's health had 
been very indifferent for years, and of late he seemed to decline 
rapidly. 

One night, near the time of the above described conversation with 
my wife, my mother called me, in great alarm, saying he was much 
worse and needed immediate attention. After dispatching a trusty 
messenger for physicians, I took my place at his bedside, and did 
not leave him till he had breathed his last, late the succeeding day. 

This event was the turning point in my career. 

By my father's will, I learned his desire that I take as my home- 
stead a fine plantation he owned in the neighborhood of St. Augus- 
tine, Florida; and, soon as I had arranged affairs to leave, I moved 
thither, and took up my abode. 

Immediately on my arrival I was waited upon by several Knights 
of the Circle, to whom I had been reported from my Castle, and 
whose mission was to urge my immediate connection with them. 
When I requested a little time for consideration, and to become 
somewhat acquainted, I was abruptly told it would not be allowed ; 
that I was not viewed at home as being any too sound, and that I 
was expected to prove my faith by my works without delay. So I 
made a virtue of necessity, by immediate application for admittance 
to the St. Augustine Castle, and was entered on the books thereof. 

I had been here but a few weeks when I was appointed one of a 
special commission to institute and organize several new Castles in 
different parts of the South. 

With a ready acquiescence, and apparent hearty determination to 
forthwith commence the organization of new Temples, I invited my 
fellow-commissioners to meet me for consultation as to the most 
eligible points at which it would be judicious to feel the sentiments 
and foregone conclusions of men, in all ranks of life, as to whether 
they had yet heard of the existence of the Order, and if so, what 
opinions had they formed as to its purposes and merits. 

The commissioners met in due time at my newly-acquired man- 



72 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

sion. I had casually remarked to my wife that I expected com- 
pany that evening and wished not to be disturbed for an horn- or 
two. 

At once the truth flashed across her mind, and she said in an im- 
ploring tone : 

"Edmund, I fondly hoped that upon the death of your lather, a' 
highminded, but misled gentleman, you would discontinue all connec- 
tion with the unholy institution whose acts so imbittered the closing 
hours of his life." 

Her remark somewhat startled me and I replied : 

" It is true, that father was a knight of the order, but he never 
by word or act gave me the slightest intimation that he had cause to 
regret his connection with the institution, and why do you speak as 
you do V! 

My wife sadly responded : 

"Edmund, I will tell you why when we are next alone ; but your 
expected company are at the door." 

The party was composed of six knights, whom, after a passing, 
introduction to my wife, I led to my private apartment. After the 
usual formalities of recognition as brother knights, we proceeded at 
once to the business of our commission, and by unanimous assent I 
acted as chairman. When and where shall our noble order locate new 
temples was of course, the main question. At once there was an 
evident diversity of opinion. It had so happened that not two mem- 
bers of the conclave claimed birthright in the same State, and each 
put in his claim for the undoubted loyalty of the State of his na- 
tivity to the institutions of the South and the contemplated confede- 
racy. 

After much discussion and contention it was decided that new tem- 
ples should be established as follows : three in Texas, two in Arkansas, 
four in Tennessee, one in Kentucky, three in Maryland, and one in 
Delaware ; each member to determine the cities or towns in which the 
new temples should be located. Thus it will be seen that six States 
were represented, and the apportionment was allotted upon what 
seemed to be an equitable basis, Tennessee being deemed as more 
especially in need of salvation. Now came my turn to select, and 
with deference to me as president it was voted that I was at liberty 
to locate six temples. 

The reader will doubtless be somewhat astounded when I assert 



KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 73 

that I announced my determination to locate all my six Temples in 
Northern States, namely, one in each of the following : Ohio, In- 
diana, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan and Maine. Now for my rea- 
sons for so doing. 

Fully convinced of the hellish purposes and blasting influences 
of the Order, I had arrived at a fixed determination, step by step, 
as opportunities presented, to unvail the mysteries and enormities 
of the most devilish institution ever conceived of by creatures bear- 
ing the semblance of humanity. 

Having arrived at the conclusion, after due deliberation with my 
sense of right, that villainy unmasked, and its purposes most 
widely known, would more readily be exposed to the gaze of the 
honest masses, and its influences for evil, the sooner counteracted, 
I imagined that a knowledge of the Order in the North might effect 
good rather than evil. True, I was aware that Temples had already 
been organized in several of the Northern States, but I well knew 
that they were controlled by men as inimical to the Union as the 
veriest venom-spitting Copperheads in South Carolina. 

However, the acts of the commission had yet to be approved by 
St. Augustine Temple, and its action upon the recommendations of 
the commission will be stated in the due course of this narrative. 



74 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Advice of a Dying Knight — Removal of the Author to Georgia — Confidence in 
a Northern Woman — A Letter that told — 'The North has an inkling of 
Traitorous Schemes — Extinction of Slavery must bide its time — How 
Patriots Write — Summons to St. Augustine Castle. 

Soon as my brother Knights had departed, after our convention, 
the proceedings of which are detailed in the last chapter, I has- 
tened to my wife's apartment, eager to hear her explanation as to 
what might have been said to her by my father with reference to 
the Order. 

She seemed, on the instant, to anticipate the object of my hasty 
entrance, and probably her countenance betokened a look that indi- 
cated a recollection of our late conversation. 

" Edmund," she said, " I promised to tell you, when next we were 
alone, how I knew that your father's connection with the Golden 
Circle embittered the closing hours of his life. You are aware 
that during several days and nights I sat by his bedside, soothing, 
in my feeble way, the mortal sufferings he endured. A day or two 
before his death he intimated that he wished to impart to me some 
cause of remorse before he was removed from earth. Speaking in 
a suppressed voice, he said : 

" ' Daughter, though by birth of Northern parentage and senti- 
ments, all of which I once detested, I am now convinced that you 
are well deserving of the affections of my son, and the only mem- 
ber of my family to whom I dare impart, with full confidence in 
your discretion and secrecy, a deliberately-formed conviction of my 
mind, and one deeply associated with the duty I owe to my coun- 
try. By my will Edmund will learn that, after providing for his 
mother, the bulk of my fortune has been bequeathed to him and to 
yourself, with an expressed desire that your home will be, after my 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 75 

departure, at my favorite estate in St. Augustine, Florida, as con- 
nected with it are many slaves over whom I wish to leave, not only 
a kind master and mistress, but such protectors as will advise and 
defend them in the convulsion which is but too apparent to my vis- 
ion in the near future. Recently I have written the letter which I 
now hand you. Soon after you are domiciled in your new home, 
hand the letter to Edmund ; but, as it is yet unsealed, you are at 
liberty to peruse its contents.' " 

Knowing, of course, the full tenor of my father's will, but not 
imagining that he had left any other document for my especial inter- 
est or attention, I eagerly caught the letter presented, and in a 
moment devoured its contents. 

Thus runs the letter, which I have sacredly kept, and of which 
no power on earth can rob me, so long as physical strength re- 
mains to enable me to retain possession of the last and most highly 
prized gift of my now departed and, I trust, sainted parent : 

THE LETTER. 

" My Bear Son Edmund: 

" Convinced that the hour is nigh, when, by the will of an All- 
wise Creator, my earthly career must terminate, I feel it imperative 
upon me as a duty I owe to my God, to my country and to you, 
and from the performance of which my conscience admits of no 
evasion, to divulge to you the last and only matter not yet arranged 
with God and man. 

" My feeble hand admonishes me to be brief; and, in a word, the 
cause of my disquietude is my connection with that institution 
known as the Knights of the Golden Circle, and into whose soul- 
destroying meshes I have been the instigation of your entangle- 
ment, contrary to the impulses of your noble nature. 

" Until now I dared not say to you what, as a father, I must say. 
Had I done so when first impressed with a conviction of grievous 
error, well do I know that your better judgment would have ac- 
corded with mine, too long deferred ; but the innate love of right 
which marks your character would have induced you to 

" ' Right such wrong, where'er 'twere given, 
'E'en 'twere in the Court of Heaven.' 



76 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" The consequence of the attempt would have been to you and to 
me, death — inglorious death. 

" About to face the last enemy of man, 1 waive all fear and trust 
to your discretion to escape from the toils by which you are encom- 
passed, without encountering the perils which will beset you in the 
effort. 

u Let all earthly affairs be subservient to your speedy withdrawal, 
consistent with your personal safety, from that most unrighteous 
institution, under whose influences you have, by my means, been 
brought. 

" It is a cabal conceived in Hell, nurtured by the arch-fiend, ac- 
cursed of God, and soon to be by all honest men. 

" These, my parting words, are intrusted to our dear Lucy, from 
whom I have learned more lessons of wisdom than were ever taught 
me by man or woman of Southern affinities. To her gentle and 
truthful counsels I earnestly commend you. Your Father." 

Had there lingered in my bosom one only doubt as to what course 
I should pursue, the letter of my father removed it. 

Denunciation, denouncement and exposure, seemed to comprise 
my whole vocabulary. 

Domestic duties incident to my change of residence demanded 
my attention, and with them, and pleasant converse with my wife, 
time, in its never ceasing round, rolled pleasantly onward. 

Letters from home reached my wife, and I could well imagine 
that at least some of them were in response to others from her. 
With the native intuition of the Yankee mind, there ran a vein 
through many of the epistles that she might not be quite happy in 
Her Southern home. 

An inkling of the existence of the Circle had evidently reached 
the " hub of the universe," and the knowledge of the fact must 
soon be broadcast throughout all that region in which reign su- 
preme the noble attributes of reason, right, intelligence and free- 
dom of mind untrammeled. 

Especially was I forcibly stricken with questions in one of the 
letters. They were as follows : 

" Lucy, does Edmund still evince that high and noble bearing, 
that exuberance of affection, which so marked his character when 
here, and which compelled us all to love him as one of ' Nature's 
noblemen?' While none of our family doubt it, there are those in 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 77 

the circle of our social relations, who at times furtively throw out 
hints that, perhaps, Edmund might not, after all, be the man he 
professed and appeared to be. 

"■ Strange rumors are afloat, especially among our leading states- 
men and politicians, that there is some convulsion in the nation, but 
the nature of which no man seems to have any lucid idea, is about 
to occur. 

" We all feel that the question of negro slavery is one of great 
delicacy, and that the people of the South are too apt to consider 
all citizens of the North as radical Abolitionists. This, you know, 
is not the fact. 

" Revolutionary memories compel us to love our brothers and 
sisters of the sunny clime ; and, to the unerring laws of civiliza- 
tion, the wise legislations of our national councils, in which South- 
ern statesmen have ever had so large a share, and, above all, to the 
all wise dictates of an overruling Providence, we are ever willing 
co leave the final settlement of the momentous question." 

In another letter, of later date, occurs this paragraph : 

" Gossip is still rife as to real or imaginary troubles, ere long to 
arise between the two sections of the country, growing out of the 
slavery question. Some have gone so far as to intimate that a se- 
cret organization exists in the South, and that spies have for years 
been among us, prying into the acts of our people, both public and 
private, preparatory to some important movement. If such an or- 
ganization exists, or any such unholy scheme has been conceived 
of, we all hope that your husband has too much patriotism to be 
drawn into a vortex which will surely redound to the ruin of at least 
one section of our now happy country, if not ruinous to the whole 
nation." 

These letters convinced me forcibly that the North knew more 
than the South could possibly imagine. 

Here was I in a strait, my loyalty as a Knight doubted in the 
South, and my devotion to the Union at least suspected in the North; 
but the time, I well knew, was at hand, when I would be summoned 
to a conclave of St. Augustine Castle, and its summons must be 
obeyed, for I was to report as chairman of the commission. 

To leave the order was, of course, my fixed determination, but I 
must, as a matter of personal safety, bide my time. 

Brooding over the state of affairs, my revery was broken by a 
faithful old slave of my father, who handed me a sealed note. The 



78 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

device on the seal told me at once as to whence it emanated. It 
was the expected summons to attend a called meeting of St. Augus- 
tine Castle. 

My report of the deliberations and conclusions of the commis- 
sion as to the most advisable locations of new Temples, had to be 
prepared, and my time was limited. 

Hastily I wrote the report, doubtful whether it would meet with 
the favor of the G. K., and those who would be actuated by his 
opinions. 

Little did I know that all the labors of myself and fellow-com- 
missioners had been of no avail. The report was never submitted, 
for astounding intelligence had reached the Order from the Lone 
Star State, as will be learned by the reader, in the next chapter. 



KNIGHTS OF THE~GOLDEN CIRCLE. 79 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Heresy at Galveston— Detectives— Sealed Instructions— Ex-Clergyman Knight 
—A sound Judge— Galveston Knights too smart for St. Augustine— Fool's 
Errand— Postoffice not public— Experience therein— Acts of the Trium- 
virs—" Under the Pump" — "March of the Crescent "— Detectives in 
" durance vile." 

At a called meeting of San Augustine Castle, that had been hast- 
ily summoned for special business, reports were read and com- 
plaints duly entered that strange irregularities were practiced by 
Knights in different localities, but more especially at Galveston. 
The work of the order was materially changed by would-be reform- 
ers, and all its machinery remodeled to suit the new programme. 
Here was heresy ; an occasion to test the inquisitorial power of 
our Jesuitical cabal to the utmost, and firmly establish its efficiency 
for self-regulation. It was resolved to meet the issue boldly, by 
extreme measures, that would prove a severe lesson in the present, 
and a wholesome check to future tergiversations ; but, to be able to 
meet it fairly, the extent of these mal-practices, by whom intro- 
duced and sustained, and all the grounds of the substitution, must 
be more clearly defined ; otherwise, so it was argued, we might en- 
danger the prestige of our own work, by running counter to an in- 
fluence as powerful as our own. The Solons of our Castle, were 
doubtless sufficiently discreet, and wisely cautious, as the result 
will prove. 

It was gravely determined, after much deliberation, to establish 
a corps of detectives (a smoother name for spies), to act in con- 
cert with detectives of other regular Castles in ferreting out- the 
source and extent of the irregularities complained of, and report 
thereon without delay. Immediate action seemed necessary, for 
the danger was increasing daily. It was, therefore, resolved to 
send from San Augustine to Galveston a force of three special de- 
tectives, who should also be commissioners with plenary powers to 
enforce the established regulations of the order, should it be found 



80 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

necessary and expedient, after due investigation. Reports, how- 
ever, were to be made daily, and instructions waited for on all 
points not sufficiency clear to the commission." 

It was certainly opposed to my wishes, although flattering to my 
pride, to receive the nomination as one of the spies ; for it was an 
honor sought after by many Knights who were doomed to disap- 
pointment. My companions in the mission were men of mature 
years and ripened judgment; an ex-judge and a superannuated 
itinerant, retired on ample fortunes, and very respectable, digni- 
fied and corpulent. We were directed to retire for conference; 
make arrangements for an early departure, and report to the Cas- 
tle for final instructions. The Knights would await our return. 

Preliminaries were settled without delay, and it was determined 
to start on the following morning. Instructions were promised to 
be in readinoss at that time, and we were excused from further at- 
tendance on the meeting, that we might complete preparations for 
departure. 

Subsequent events will explain why I have jotted down these 
particulars, many of which, at first glance, seem unimportant and 
common-place. 

Next "morning we were early at the place of rendezvous, and 
were met by the G. K., who delivered to each of us a sealed packet, 
with instructions " not to open till we arrived at Galveston ; not to 
confer regarding their contents, except in the event of a contingency 
therein set forth; and, on pain of suffering the penalty denounced 
against recusant Knights, not to exhibit our instructions, one to the 
other, nor to any living soul. Instructions were in cipher, the key 
to which he would impart verbally, under the strongest injunc- 
tions to secresy. If we were sufficiently wary, industrious and dis- 
creet, he felt assured our mission would not be entirely barren of 
good results ; but we must always keep in view the best good of 
the order, and make every personal sacrifice to preserve its great 
principles firm and intact. It would be expected of us to keep 
clear of avoidable dangers, provided duties could be performed as 
efficiently by so doing; but our lives and all our possessions were 
the property of the order whenever it choose to claim them, and if 
it became necessary to risk all now, we must not hesitate. In 
taking leave of us, the G. K. said : 

" Brother Knights — I will not disguise from you that I view your 
mission with great interest, for it is important, and on its success 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 81 

depend, in some degree, the destinies of an Empire. We send you 
forth with full reliance in your judgment and patriotism ; and have 
no doubt that whatever man can do, under the peculiar circum- 
stances of your appointment, you will faithfully and industriously 
accomplish. I shall look impatiently for your first report, and 
shall hail your success with emotions of hearty gratitude." 

We were off. The journey was pleasant, and full of agreeable 
incident; and the great business of our journey seemed to have 
been forgotten by all, or purposely ignored, in the more entertain- 
ing pastime of story-telling and card-playing. We were a true 
Southern party — jovial, boisterous and hearty — and bound to make 
the most of our opportunities to-day, whatever might be the effect on 
to-morrow. "Let to-morrow take care of itself, as long as there's 
whisky in the jug," was the motto of a fine old Southern gentle- 
man, and it would make a good motto for the Southern Confed- 
eracy, if they had whisky enough left to be worth referring to. 

Not till we saw the lights of Galveston, as we were sailing up 
the bay, did my companions allude to the object of our journey. 
The old Judge looked out and remarked : 

" We're nearly there. I hope this is not a fool's errand, and 
was not disposed to view it as such when we started ; but, gentle- 
men, it has occurred to me that there are men in Galveston almost 
as smart as some of our common people at Augustine ; and, if we 
get a-head of them, it will be more good luck than superior wit that 
should have the credit. If we follow instructions, nothing more 
can be reasonably expected, and probably will not be looked for ; 
but I have some ambition to meet the desires of our Castle to the 
last fraction, and have no doubt you join me in the feeling." 

" Of course circumstances must guide us, more or less," said the 
Reverend, " without proceeding outside of instructions. But the 
instructions themselves will, doubtless, give us what light we need, 
and we must abide by them. I am fully confident we shall effect 
something for the good of the order, if we put our trust in Provi- 
dence, and do our duty as pointed out." 

" For myself," said I, " I have little ambition to gratify ; but, as 
I have accepted the trusts of this appointment, my best efforts 
shall be devoted to the accomplishment of its purposes, so far as I 
can reconcile those purposes to my consciousness of right and my 
duty to God." 



82 KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Consciousness of right and duty to God ! " exclaimed the ex- 
clergyman. " You do not suppose, my young brother, that our 
Castle would impose anything on you that you would scruple to 
perform on the grounds you mention ? Most certainly you can not. 
But at the same time you must keep in view your duty to your 
country, and remember that you can not serve your God more ac- 
ceptably than by heartily espousing the cause of this bleeding land 
against the encroachments of- tyrants." 

" Sound," said the Judge. 

If he had said " sound and fury," it would have hit the center. 

That white-haired old man, who had stood up before the people 
for half a century, as the chosen servant of Christ, was an arrant 
hypocrite ! I knew it from that moment ; and I have it to add that 
the clergyman, whether North or South, who believes and advo- 
cates sentiments like the above, is a living scandal to his profes- 
sion ! I evaded a direct answer, and said : 

" We are all at sea in this matter, till we have become familiar 
with the contents of our packets ; and, as an opportunity will soon 
occur, to know what our Castle wishes and expects as the result of 
this journey, is it not advisable to defer argument till we know what 
points for speculation or analysis the subject may present ? " 

" Sound again," said the Judge. " And that reminds me that 
our conference is too public for any good to arise from it. Let us 
defer matters till morning, and we shall then see more clearly what 
action to take." 

We soon landed, and found a hotel with pleasant accommoda- 
tions. My companions applied for a double-bedded room, it seemed 
to me, with uncalled-for anxiety and evident nervousness ; and 
there was a manner about them that showed a desire for exclusive- 
ness, and looked like leaving me out in the cold. All of which I 
noticed incidentally, and thought of at the moment as rather eccen- 
tric or whimsical ; but had no idea these acts were part of a plan 
that was studiously arranged before leaving home, to be systemat- 
ically carried into practice through the execution of our commis- 
sion. I learned such to be the case soon enough ; and further 
knowledge followed in due order, that taught me deeper lessons in 
finesse and duplicity than I ever thought it possible to learn. 

My friends were provided for according to their wish. A com- 
fortable apartment was allotted to me, in which I had my luggage 
stowed, and everything made snug, and then went to supper. Par- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 83 

ticulars of this kind are, doubtless, tiresome ; but they all seem 
necessary to explain fully what follows. On returning to my room, 
I resolved to study my instructions before retiring, as it was my 
intention to proceed at once with the business of my appointment. 
I therefore procured a light, and was about opening the hieroglyphic 
budget, when my eyes fell on a note, that was lying on my table, 
addressed to me in an unfamiliar hand, and superscribed " immedi- 
ate." It was sealed with wax that bore the impress of the snake 
in a circle, enclosing the crescent and stars, which at once led me 
to suppose it a document of official character, and doubtless relating 
to the business in hand. Imagine my surprise when I had opened 
it and read the following : 
" Dear Sir : 

" Your friend, the Judge, was correct when " it occurred to him 
that there are men in Galveston almost as smart as some of your 
common people at Augustine," and that " if you get a-head of them, 
it will be more good luck than superior wit that should have the 
credit." Let us tell you that yourself and the Judge and the Par- 
son, are here on a fool's errand, and did we not consider you per- 
fect damned fools, incapable of effecting a single step toward the 
vandalism you meditate, you would never have set foot on the soil 
of Texas; and, further, that if you officiously meddle with affairs 
here, that you assume to have control over, your quarters will be 
'permanently transferred to the dungeon of the Temple, for the term 
of your natural lives, which term may be long or short, as it 
pleases The Triumvirs." 

Here, then, was our welcome to the generous hospitalities of the 
Lone Star ! We, the chosen spies of a great order, had been dog- 
ged to the scene of our anticipated triumph, watched like thieves, 
and before having an opportunity to test our inquisitive or pene- 
trating qualities, threatened like pirates. "The Triumvirs" of 
Galveston had evidently looked for our coming, and had either gone 
themselves, or sent out deputies, to meet us. And we had been 
met, singled out of the crowd of passengers, as "perfect damned 
fools," and our words listened to and reported in the most ap- 
proved style of eminent detectives. " 0, that there were some one 
here to write me down an ass !" 

I re-read the note, scanned the chirography, lighted a cigar and 
rang the bell. 

" Ring, sah ? " inquired the boy at the door. 



84 KNIGHTS OF TUB GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" I wish to know who brought this note. Can you tell ? " 

" Eh ? Yer mean dat letter ? Boy bring him to Mas'r, an' 
mas'r send him up " 

" Ask your master to come to my room." 

" Eh ? Yes'r ! But mas'r kin't come, kaise he's gwine wid de 
Cunnel, an' Cunnel's waitin'. Missus do, nor Missy Clarey ?" 

" If your master has not yet gone, ask him to step here a mo- 
ment. If he is out to-night, I must wait till morning." 

" Eh ? Yes'r ! Dat all ?" 

" That's all, now. Hurry up before he is gone." 

"Yes'r!" 

But the boy was too late. Our landlord had gone " wid de cun- 
nel," and I was forced to wait till morning before interrogating 
him. I therefore consoled myself with translating my budget and 
weighing its contents, which was work enough for one night ; for 
of all the outlandish characters ever introduced to convey ideas on 
paper, this cipher was entitled to eminence for its uncouthness and 
lack of systematic arrangement. But I finally made a point, and 
found that the first clause was a command that I should not recog- 
nize any of the Galveston Knights till I had become fully assured 
of their status, and learned that they were orthodox ; and, under 
the severest penalties, I was ordered to abstain from visiting a Cas- 
tle till I was fully satisfied it still adhered to the regular work of 
the order without interpolation. How I was to make these discov- 
eries was not clear, as no directions were given to that end, except 
that I should be vigilant, secretive and faithful, and immediately 
report everything I might discover of a suspicious or unusual char- 
acter at the scene of our operations. It was therefore in my power 
to report at once, for something of a suspicious and unusual char- 
acter had already happened in the circumstance of " The Trium- 
virs' " note. I laid aside the instructions, and on the spur of the 
moment transcribed this singular missive, with the circumstances 
attending its delivery, and addressed the document to the G. K. at 
San Augustine. Then, in order to insure its immediate transmission, 
I resolved to carry it myself to the postoffice. I found the walk 
somewhat tedious, and was at length under the impression I had 
missed the direct course ; therefore stopped at a saloon to inquire. 

"The postoffice?" responded a gentleman standing in a crowd 
near the door; " it is some little distance yet, but I am going there, 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 85 

and have my carriage in waiting. Do me the favor to bear me 
company." 

I readily consented, and seated 'myself in the vehicle without 
ceremony. 

" You are probably a stranger in town?" queried my companion. 

" Yes ; here less than two hours, and my first visit." 

" Little wonder that you have not learned localities. Do you 
remain long with us ?" 

" I think not. A matter of business only, that will probably be 
soon over — the sooner the better." 

We were riding at a good rate of speed, and it was a matter of 
much surprise to me that we did not reach the postoffice. At length 
we turned down an alley or by-street, just wide enough for our 
passage, and I said to my companion, 

" Surely, your postoffice is not in such a place as this ?" 

" We will soon be there," he replied. 

A few steps further on we halted before a heavy door, that looked 
like the basement entrance of an immense warehouse. All was 
dark and gloomy, silent and deserted. 

" John," said the stranger, addressing his driver, " rap three 
times on the door with the butt of your whip, and we'll see if there's 
any one here." 

The door was immediately opened, in response to the raps, and 
a voice from within inquired, 

"Who's there?" 

" A pledge of the Three," replied my companion. 

In an instant two men came rushing out, and before I was aware 
of their intention, enveloped my head with a heavy blanket, secured 
my arms behind with handcuffs, and lifted me bodily from the car- 
riage. I was faint and confused, but had no doubt as to whose 
hands I was in and for what purpose. Suddenly I experienced the 
sensation of being borne rapidly along on a litter, and after a little 
I felt the damp and noisome air of subterranean passages, and 
heard water drippings and dead echoes like those we hear in caves. 
Still 1 was borne on through winding labyrinths, in darkness and 
silence — no sound save the drippings and the footfalls of my bear- 
ers — on through dangerous and secret haunts of men-devils, with 
unremitting force — on, on ! Finally we reach a circle, and go round 
and round, faster and faster, in a great whirl, till the bearers are 
tired and panting, and a grum voice commands, 



86 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

« Stop !" 

The suddenness of the halt threw me from the litter with great 
force. I was immediately seized and the blanket torn from my 
head, but found myself in utter darkness, and fearful of making 
the least motion, lest I might voluntarily inflict an injury on myself. 
.Lying here some fifteen minutes gave me time to reflect, and I soon 
arrived at the conclusion that I was either in the dungeon of the 
Galveston Castle, or the stronghold of pirates, and it really mat- 
tered little to me which. But if I had any doubts as to whether I 
was in charge of the brotherhood of the Circle, they were soon 
dispelled. The booming of a muffled bell grated on my ears, a yell 
as from all the fiends of pandemonium sounded in response, and a 
light of more intense brilliancy than would be emitted from a thou- 
sand jets burst on my startled vision. Drums rolled and bugles 
sounded ; then came the echo of armed heels and the rattling of 
sabers. Soon appeared two hundred Knights in splendid armor, 
with helmets of a strange fashion, ornamented with silver crescents 
on the fronts and golden serpents couchant on the crowns. They 
were led by three Knights in black, who wore red feathers in their 
helmets ; and here, at a glance, I intuitively recognized " The Tri- 
umvirs " and the " Knights of the Red Rose " as identical. 

The Knights ranged themselves around the apartment in silence, 
the Triumvirs occupying a position in the center. 

"Death to traitors !" exclaimed red feather number one. 

" Confusion to our enemies !" parroted number two. 

"Torture and death to spies !" howled number three. 

" So say we all !" responded the knights in unison. 

I saw the drift of this mummery and was mad. 

" To the devil with renegades and interlopers !" I shouted, and 
the echoes rang all the changes on the words, like a mighty response. 

" Gao- his insolence," commanded the foremost red feather, and 
lead him to our presence. 

I was foolish enough to attempt resistance to the execution of 
this order, but was at once overcome, gagged, and led before the 
the august Triumvirs. They were standing on a crescent shaped 
disc, formed of rock, with the mystical triangle in the center, and 
the letters 3, 7, 5, R, 61, appropriately carved therein. 

• " Which one ?" inquired the foremost thug, addressing his com- 
panion. 

" Edmund Wright, of San Augustine, formerly of Atlanta, re- 




\&maE**^BmBm 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 87 

ported as giving evidence of unsoundness at the time of his admis- 
sion into the order, and an inefficient and lukewarm Knight since." 

" Why is he here ? " 

" He is sent from Augustine as a spy against the brotherhood of 
Galveston, and to correct what are called our irregularities. He 
is under special instructions." 

" What is the nature of those instructions ? " 

" I have them here," said the scoundrel, with unsurpassed effron- 
tery ; " but as they are in an unusual cipher, I will give you the 
substance in plain English. He is first commanded not to associ- 
ate with, nor recognize the brotherhood of Galveston, nor under 
any circumstances to visit our Castle. (He will have a funny re- 
port to make under this head, I'm thinking, if he ever reports at 
all ! " ) Next, he is instructed to find all the true Knights we have 
left in this region, and learn from them who first introduced irreg- 
ularities into the work, and how far these irregularities are sanc- 
tioned by the order in Texas. Also, what the interpolations con 
sist of, and how far they interfere with the original objects of the 
association, as understood by the great men at Augustine. Finally, 
he is authorized to form any combination in his power to reg 
our work by force ; if thought necessary, by the shedding of blood 
and the sacrifice of life." 

" But he was not expected to accomplish all this alone ? " 

" Oh, no ! He has two companions in this great revolutk 
mission, who come with the same objects, from the same so 
although their instructions are not identical ; for, while br 
Wright is smelling out the game here, and watching it, P: 
Taylor and Judge Firman are deputed to watch him, and see that 
he is not converted to the heresies that possess us. His mnster 
has more confidence in his inquisitiveness than in his virtue, and 
values his smelling qualities so highly that he will run no risk of 
losing them." 

"Where are the others?" 

" Under the pump /" 

" Are you sure?" 

" We never mistake." 

"Wright! this is truly a bad business," said the foremost red 
feather. "But you see we are prompt to deal with all such eaves- 
droppers as yourself and your friends. " Under the pump," means 
that they, as well as yourself, are now in our power, and in this 



88 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

our stronghold. It is little more than two hours since you arrived 
in our city, thinking, perhaps, that no one here understood the ob- 
ject of your mission. This meeting wast summoned in ten minutes 
after you set foot on our soil ; and in less than a half hour from 
that time, a description of your person and that of your compan- 
ions, was in possession of every Galveston Knight. You can say, 
in your report, that we are vigilant — proof against surprise — and 
firm in our determination to maintain our rights, at all hazzards. 
That your report may not lack anything, and be full to the last 
particular, we now propose to initiate you and your two compan- 
ions into this, our Castle, and you will thus learn all you came to 
find out, and much more than has been dreamed of by the circum- 
bendibus fogies at Augustine. Remove the gag and hand-cuffs 
from the prisoner." 

My hands and mouth were soon at liberty, and I was encircled 
by a guard of eight Knights with drawn swords. The remaining 
Knights were formed in column by platoons of sevens, and, at the 
order of the Chief of the Three, made one grand evolution around 
the cavern, while myself and my supporters occupied the center. 
We were ordered to fall in at the rear, and then came the signal, 
by four taps of the muffled bell ; the bugles responded with several 
eccentric flourishes dying away like the wail of despair ; and then 
came the command : 

" March by the Crescent ! " 

Time was marked by the monotonous tapping of a muffled drum, 
and we advanced through a semi-circular passage, paved with brick, 
but the walls of which were of heaviest masonry. Soon we were 
passing grated doors of heavy iron ; and, as I came opposite one 
that appeared larger and stronger than the others, we were ordered 
to halt. I looked up to the grate mechanically, but what were my 
sensations to behold there, pressed against the bars, with eyes 
protruding, in wild affright, the pale face of my fellow-detective, 
Judge Firman? 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 89 



CHAPTER IX 

A Judge Brought to Judgment — He Quails Not — Ruse of the Parson — Extra- 
ordinary Harangue of the Triumvir Chief — The Lone Star on her Dignity — 
Galveston not Augustine — The Great Room of the Temple — "Let the 
Craven Three Approach " — Decree of the Soldan — The Judge All Spunk — 
He Disappears. 

How the Judge could have been kidnapped and immured in that 
subterranean dungeon, without my knowledge, was the problem 
that at once distracted my attention from my own personal beleag- 
uerment. Less than three hours before, he and I and Parson 
Taylor were sailing up Galveston Bay, intent on the objects of our 
great mission, and now — 

"Bring forth the learned Judge, and place him under a strong 
guard," commanded Chief of the Three. 

The door was unlocked, and the poor Judge seized and dragged 
out with as little ceremony as would be used in handling a beast. 
He was brought to his feet with a vigorous jerk that made his teeth 
chatter. He had been treated with the greatest respect by every 
one with whom he had come in contact in the last forty years, and 
now indignities were heaped upon him as though he were the veriest 
knave in Christendom. It was too much for human nature ! 

He gazed about him for a moment like one bewildered, and then, 
evidently taking in the whole situation at a glance, he shouted : 

" So we have indeed fallen among thieves ! Well, scoundrels, do 
your will. Murder the old man at once, if it suits you. Kill 
quickly and decently, if you know how ; for this pulling, and drag- 
ging, and bruising torture, is beneath the dignity of a vulgar pirate. 
But, remember — with whatever measure ye meet, thus shall it be 
meted to you again!" 

" Stop the old devil's preaching, or shortern his breath at once !" 
commanded Chief of the Three. " Forward !" 



90 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

We were soon halted at the door of another dungeon, from which 
the sounds of groans and sobs came to our ears with special unc- 
tion. The massive bolts were drawn, and a guard led forth my 
Christian friend, the fighting itinerant. He was in great disorder, 
and shaking with an ague of fear, but at once found language for 
the occasion. 

" My friends," said he, " I fully appreciate your feelings, and, if 
I know my own heart, sympathise with the great object of this 
convocation. I feel that I can join heart and hand in the business 
of this important meeting ; and, although personally a stranger to 
most of you, offer my knighthood to the test of any proof you 
may designate." 

" It shall be gallantly tested, old man," responded the Chief of 
the Triumvirate. " You shall cross the Pons Assinorum with a 
pasteboard buckler and a dagger of lath — your canteen filled with 
sweetened whisky, plenty of gingerbread in your haversack, and a 
smelling bottle at a convenient reach. But none of your Augustine 
praying and preaching, you old cuss ! Save that for a better 
market." 

" Just as your honors wish," said the Parson. 
" Honors ! my God ! " exclaimed Judge Firman ; " I have heard 
of honor among thieves, but — " 

" Kill that old reprobate if he utters another word," shouted the 
Chief.' " Forward to Council." 

Again we were on the march. At the end of the long corridor 
there was a wide space, in which the head of the column wheeled, 
and once more we traversed the semi-circular passage, keeping 
time to the same dull echoes of the muffled drum. Again we 
marched through the great cavern to the sound of clanging bugles, 
and came to a halt around the crescented disk, in the same order as 
previously described. The Three again occupied the platform ; 
the Chief commanded silence, and then, in tone and manner that 
made a deep impression, pronounced the most extraordinary ha- 
rangue I ever listened to, as near as I can remember in the follow- 
ing words : 

" Companions of the Circle : We are met for no common pur- 
pose. We are here for no ordinary duty. We are summoned for 
a great object; to meet one of the most critical emergencies that 
could possibly threaten our Order ; and I trust we fully appreciate 
the occasion, and that we are ready to adopt such measures to 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 91 

avert the impending danger as will be efficient to that end. Spies 
are sent here to circumvent our plans, betray our confidences, and 
deliver us over to those who would destroy us ! In fact, they come 
with instructions to array our own people against us, and inaugu- 
rate civil war on this soil that shall stain it with our blood, unless 
we consent to their dictation, and abandon our cherished institu- 
tions at their will. Are we, Knights of the Lone Star, ready to 
subw^i to these foul indignities ? Are we fallen so low that we will 
impassively consent to become the slaves and minions of Florida, 
or of any other state or nation ? In short, are we the poor fools 
of others' whims, to be knocked about as the shuttlecocks of their 
caprices ; or are we still men, freemen, with sacred rights dearer 
than life, and strength to maintain them, or courage to die in their 
defense ? 

" Brave Texans ! I know your hearts ; your indomitable prow- 
ess and invincible courage ! You are not here to surrender rights, 
but to reassert and maintain them, at any hazard. You are not 
here to tamper with and excuse treachery, but, I trust, to make 
such an example of it as shall leave a crimson mark on the record 
of this nightfs history ! We have apprehended these spies ; they 
are fully in our power, unknown to the civil authorities ; their pun- 
ishment is solely for our determination, for we may work our will 
with them to the last result, without fear of question. For myself, 
I hope they may never see the light of another sun, and that we 
may hereafter be able to point to their fate as the great example 
of our vengeance. 

" Do not understand me as wishing to dictate. I have no settled 
plan for the execution of the judgment I would pronounce, if left 
to my individual decision, and therefore hope to be favored with 
the views of my brother Knights, before we determine fully the 
measure and manner of punishment." 

The Chief took his seat, and his Right Bower of the Black Suit 
stepped forward. 

" Knights ! " said he, " I never trouble you with long speeches ; 
but I think it right these men be heard in their own defense before 
we adjudge them. It is just possible we don't know all the points, 
and it strikes me they havn't the appearance of the worst scoun- 
drels in the world. I hope they may be heard." 

" Let them speak ! " " Let's hear what they will say ! " " Come, 



92 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

sneaks ! spin your yarn ! " and similar expressions up and down 
the column. The Chief came forward hurriedly. 

" We can not hear them," said he ; " for they have no right of 
speech till they have ' seen what we have seen, heard what we have 
heard, and know us as we know each other.' If such is your in- 
tention, let it be indicated." 

The affirmative sign, hands raised with palm turned out, wa3 
unanimous. 

" Then shall the evesdroppers take their first step this night in 
the rudiments of Chivalry ; and, mind you, Galveston is not Au- 
gustine ; knighthood here is not the pastime of a leisure hour, but 
the business of earnest men, into which they carry their hearts, 
and lives, and all they have. There is no indecision nor hesitation 
here ; no recusancy; no opportunity to go back or look back, unless 
you desire a short journey to hell ! It is decided that you take our 
degrees : you have no power to object, unless you purchase it with 
every drop of your blood ! The issues are now plainly before you. 
To the great room of the Temple ; form column ; forward." 

Another grand flourish of bugles, three strokes of the great bell, 
and the muffled drum resumed its measured beat. Once more 
around the cavern, and then great doors opened at the side, dis- 
closing an immense staircase, rich in all the appointments of lux- 
ury, and ornamented with a thousand fantastic gewgaws of mysti- 
cal design. The insignia of the order was pictured and carved in 
every conceivable style, and hundreds of objects, of weird signifi- 
cation, now for the first time met my view. The great candela- 
brum was surmounted by fifteen ghastly skulls, from each of which 
projected three strangely modeled jets, representing great eyes, 
and so constructed that they had the appearance of glaring at the 
beholder like an enraged beast. The handrails represented huge 
serpents, elaborately gilded ; the stairrods were bronzed copper- 
heads ; the wainscoting was replete with carvings of grinning 
skulls and hideous images, among which I remember an odd carica- 
ture of a gigantic negro, in the act of putting the knife to the throat 
of a helpless infant ! The falls of several of the steps were brilliant 
transparencies, with figurative designs, the uppermost of which 
displayed the words, "Death to Abolitionists." 

The Knights marched up these stairs, and were halted on a broad 
landing from which other stairs led, in different directions, to the 
rooms above. The drum was silenced ; the column formed a hoi- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 93 

low square, in the center of which myself and companions were 
placed. The great bell tolled three times ; the lights were dimmed 
to a degree that gave a sombrous look to the entire scene. Thus, 
all was in immovable silence, for perhaps five minutes ; and an 
ecstasy of nervousness crept through my veins and into my heart as 
that silence was broken by the voice of a fearful shape that arose in 
gigantic form through the floor of the second landing, and, in hoarse 
tones, thundered the command : 

" Let the craven three approach !" 

" Firman, Wright and Taylor, obey the order of the Soldan of the 
Temple !" said the chief. 

But Firman, Wright and Taylor were spell-bound. The shape 
was too devilish and frightful to inspire our confidence, and its voice 
was by no means winning. 

" Guards, lead forward !" shouted the chief. 

So we were led forward up the steps, and into the immediate pres- 
ence of the " Soldan." 

" False-hearted knaves !" growled he, " why move so slowly at my 
bidding? But still, 'tis well you fear. Your doom is not calculated 
to set well on weak stomachs, and blood like yours will soon cool 
when the air strikes it. Ho !" he shouted, " Nubians, to your 
work !" 

A heavy panel in the staircase was drawn aside at this summons, 
and six beings, representing large and muscular negroes, stepped 
out on the landing. They seized us roughly, two to each man, and 
hurried us, with great violence, through the opening from whence 
they came. 

We found ourselves in what appeared, by the dim light, to 
be a small apartment ; but before we had opportunity for further 
observation, our eyes were bandaged, our hands tied, and each of us 
forced down and secured in a strangely oscillating chair, that rolled 
and jerked in a manner most distressingly eccentric. 

" God have mercy on my soul !" groaned Parson Taylor, in great 
agony. 

" Pray rather for mercy on your body just now," said the judge ; 
" and thank God that these hell-hounds can not bind and torture 
your soul." 

" Silence !" thundered the voice of the " Soldan," " or we'll bind 
and torture your tongues." 

The great bell tolled again, and as its last echo reverberated 



94 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

through the caverns and vaults, the chairs in which we were seated 
began to ascend — at first slowly, and then gradually increasing their 
speed, until the swiftness of the motion became painful. Still we 
ascended, or, at least, such was the effect on our senses — up, up, in- 
terminably. It was the most singular illusion I ever experienced, 
and which I shall, probably, never be able to explain ; for when I 
imagined myself far above the clouds, and riding with the stars, I 
heard the voice of the shape command : 

" Let them drop !" 

The chairs turned over, the fastenings that held us were unloosed, 
and we fell, not to exceed ten feet, into a pile of soft cotton. 

" Damn such nonsense as this !" shouted the judge, springing to 
his feet. " I would sooner be killed outright than tortured to death. 
So do your worst, you cursed devils !" 

" Remove all the bandages," said the Soldan, " and summon an 
armed guard." 

When my eyes were at liberty, I found myself in a spacious hall, 
of great magnificence, furnished in all the splendor that wealth can 
command. Compared with the temples of other castles I had seen, 
it was the sumptuous palace beside the plebeian cot. 

The guard came in, armed with rifles. They were a set of rough 
customers, with murder written all over their faces, and seemed to 
enjoy the prospect of a row. 

" Seize the old man !" (pointing to the judge) said the Soldan to 
the guard, " and place him under the inquisitorial arch. Then three 
of you, one at each side, and one behind him, with your pieces 
properly loaded, cocked and in order ; press the muzzles firmly 
against his head, ready to blow his brains out at the signal from me. 
We find it our duty to make an example of him, for he persists in 
defying us, and sets our power at naught." 

" I do not acknowledge myself as, in any degree, under your au- 
thority," replied the judge. "And I hereby not only protest 
against the force you now propose to use, but against all you have 
used, and your insolent assumptions in the case of myself and my 
companions, from the commencement." 

"Insolent assumptions, old man? Those words shall cost you 
dear. Remove him at once to the arch, and, in addition to my first 
order, place the iron collar about his neck, and arrange the trough 
to catch his rebellious blood. Away with him !" shouted the 



• KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 95 

Soldan, in a very agony of wrath ; " and, Nubians, bring in your 
charge these other two, that they may see fair play, and the fore- 
shadowing of their own fate, under a similar provocation." 

Four strong men had fallen upon the poor old Judge, and were 
binding his limbs with strong cords. This accomplished, they 
picked him up bodily, and arrayed themselves as the advance of the 
column. The Parson and myself were placed next, under guard ; 
and a great concourse of Knights came after. As we started, the 
great bell commenced its muffled toll, and continued while we 
marched three times around the Temple. Then the lights were 
dimmed, an immense tapestry, at one end of the room, rolled up, 
as if by magic, and in a deep recess, or ante-chamber, we beheld 
the Soldan seated on an elevated throne, clothed in rich garments, 
and wearing a crown upon his head, sparkling with jewels. In 
front of the throne appeared a low platform, upon which Judge 
Firman was placed, in a sitting posture, while myself and the Par- 
son were allowed to occupy chairs at either side. At a signal from 
the throne, the platform commenced rising, and we then discovered 
that the Judge was seated on the capital of a richly modeled col- 
umn, that rose through the floor, and bore him aloft with a gentle 
motion. We also noticed, in following the motion of the shaft, 
that there was an aperture in the ceiling of the room directly in 
line with it, suflicient to admit its passage into rooms above ; and 
were therefore not taken by surprise when the Judge passed 
through this opening, and was shut out from our view. But in 
another moment the column descended to its first position, and 
the platform was empty ! 



96 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER X. 

" The Souvenir of Treachery " — The Judge returns -with a tight-fitting Collar — 
Firmness not to be Intimidated — The Parson Quavers — The Five Signals — 
" Traitor's Doom" — Villainy Triumphs over Nobility of Soul — Massacre 
of the Judge — Resolution of the Author — He Vows Retribution and Bides 
His Time. 

After a brief interval, during which absolute silence was pre- 
served, four men, dressed in white robes, with red sashes and tur- 
baned, came through a small door, at the rear of the throne, bear- 
ing a blood-stained trough. This they placed beside the platform 
or top of the column, and returning, soon appeared with a large 
black coffin, on which was inscribed, in silver letters, " The Sou- 
venir of Treachery." This was placed across the backs of two 
chairs, between the platform and the throne. 

" Guards ! " said the Soldan, " remember your orders, and ob- 
serve the signal. D.o your duty like true Knights, and all will be 
well. Lower the arch." 

Again the bell tolled mournfully ; but its tones were insufficient 
to drown an agonizing shriek that pealed upon us like a wail of 
despair, and chilled our hearts. The Judge was returning, sus- 
pended by an iron collar about his neck, which depended from the 
center of an arch, upon which was painted, in red characters, " The 
Traitor's Doom !" This arrangement was lowered by a cable, 
attached to machinery above ; and as it came slowly down, with an 
unsteady, irregular motion, the groans of the poor old man were 
pitiful enough to soften a heart of adamant. 

" Kill me at once ! for Christ's sake, kill me !" he prayed. " This 
torture is more than I can endure." 

The collar was not intended to strangle, nor was it considered 
extremely severe in a majority of cases ; but the corpulency of 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 97 

Judge Firman made an immense strain on his neck, and the wonder 
is that it did not break it. His feet soon touched the platform, 
however, and then his groans ceased ; but he was only fairly at a 
true perpendicular when three of the armed guards stepped for- 
ward and pressed the muzzles of their rifles hard against his 
head. 

" Old man," said the Soldan, " do not, for a moment, deceive 
yourself with the idea that we are playing with your feelings, or 
endeavoring, by this ceremony, to intimidate your courage. But 
understand at once that we are earnestly at work, in the perform- 
ance of a solemn duty, from which nothing on earth, nor in heaven 
or hell shall deter us. You are required, without prelude or argu- 
ment, to instantly resign and abjure your commission from San 
Augustine Castle, appointing you a spy upon the doings of our 
Order in Texas, and to bind yourself by a solemn oath, under the 
heaviest penalties, to report nothing you have or may witness here 
to-night, or elsewhere in Galveston. Your companions will be sim- 
ilarly bound ; and then you will be instructed in such of our mys- 
teries as we find it necessary to impart, to hold our authority over 
you when you go hence ; for after you leave us you will still remain 
under our control as completely as you are at this moment, with 
the collar about your neck and loaded rifles pointed at your 
brain !" 

" Never, so help me God ! will I submit to such tyranny !" 
exclaimed the Judge. " Torture me if you will — kill me if you 
dare — for I will not assent to one of your requirements !" 

" Have a care, old man ! On a very slight signal from me those 
rifles will divorce your miserable soul from that ugly carcase, and 
send you to the devil with many sins unrepented of. Have a 
care !" 

" I have no care in the matter, but defy you !" replied the Judge. 
" I scorn your assumed authority, and none of your threats shall 
intimidate me." 

11 Then, sir, we have but one course. You have been warned, 
and the consequences be upon your own head. Guards, are your 
pieces all properly loaded ?" 

" They are." 

" A bullet in each one ?" 

"Yes." 



98 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Pricked and capped ?" 

"All complete." 

" Are they cocked ?" 

" All ready." 

" Are the muzzles firmly held against the prisoner's head?" 

" They are." 

" You see, sir, that everything is in order, and you have but one 
minute to live, unless you resign and abjure your commission, and 
consent to be directed by me." 

" Consent at once, man !" cried Parson Taylor. 

" Never !" shouted the Judge, firmly. " I will die a thousand 
deaths first !" 

" Well, old man, here is your last chance," said the Soldan. 
" My hand is now on a bell cord, which I have just pulled once. I 
shall pull at regular intervals, and at the fifth ringing the guard 
will certainly fire, unless you retract. Be wise in time, and do not 
imagine that any one will mistake stubbornness for courage." 

" You have my decision ; proceed to your devil's work !" replied 
the Judge, in firm tones. 

" I have now rung the second signal," said the Soldan. 

"Judge Firman, are you demented?" shouted the Parson. "Re- 
member your family and friends at home ; your estate, and all your 
ties." 

"And my honor, Parson Taylor; don't forget that," replied the 
Judge, proudly. 

" What can be done ?" queried the Parson, gloomily. 

" I am ringing for the third time," said the Soldan. 

" May I be permitted to have one word with my friend ?" asked 
the Parson." 

"There is little time for words now," answered the Soldan; 
"but from your seat you may address him on the subject before 
us, in any manner that will not interfere with the execution of his 
punishment." 

" I have no wish to hear from you further, friend Taylor, for I 
know what you would say," said the Judge. " Remember me to 
my family and friends, and tell them my death will be no stain on 
their love or friendship for the old man." 

"This is the fourth signal," said the Soldan, " and I can assure 
you that I am as determined in this matter as you can be. Unless 
you retract at once your soul is within one minute of eternity !*' 




CHIVALRY "DOING GOOD BY STEALTH." 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 99 

"Good by, Taylor; good by, Wright," faltered the old man. 
" Tell them I died like a man." 

" I fear, your honor," said I, addressing the Soldan, " that Judge 
Firman does not correctly apprehend his own position, or the force 
of your requirements. Is there not some way you can make the 
matter more clear to him ?" 

" I understand your motives, young man, and appreciate them. 
The time for explanations has passed. Yourself and friend must 
change your position farther back." 

We obeyed ot once. 

" Knights," said the Soldan, " this is the third time in the his- 
tory of this Castle that we have been called to look upon a scene 
like this. Let its lessons sink deep into all our hearts, that we 
may never forget ' The Traitor's Doom.' The time has come for 
the final signal. Let there be no faltering, no faintheartedness, no 
womanly tremors. My hand is now on the cord. Is all ready?" 

" All ready," replied the Chief of the Three. 

" Unhappy man, may God have mercy on your soul ! " 

" Amen ! " responded all the Knights in unison. 

The bugles sounded, the great bell tolled, and the Soldan pulled 
the fatal cord. 

" Fire ! " 

The rifles were so promptly discharged, at the word of com- 
mand, that but one report was heard. When the smoke cleared 
away, the mangled head of the poor old Judge was discovered 
leaning to one side, motionless in death ! The iron collar was un- 
loosed, the black coffin opened, and all that remained on earth of 
a brave-hearted man deposited therein. The Nubians were ordered 
to wash the blood from his face; and then the Knights formed col- 
umn, placing myself and the Parson in the rear, still under guard, 
and to the measured time of the muffled drums, we were marched 
around the coffin, to take a last look at the dead. As we gazed 
upon his lifeless countenance, the Knights constantly repeated the 
words, 

" Behold the Traitor's Doom ! " 

As I gazed upon the lifeless countenance of that brave old hero, 
who, although mistaken in many of his judgments, was a true man, 
I resolved that when I should succeed in again reaching the land 
of civilized men, I would make known to them the horrors I hat 
witnessed under the rule of this terrible oligarchy of the Circle 



100 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

and, although my descriptions are imperfect, and fall far short of 
the reality, I hope they will open the eyes of the people to an ap- 
preciation of the great fact that we have an Order in our land that 
glories in the perpetration of such deeds of darkness. And it is 
now my earnest prayer that these fiends may soon be ferreted out, 
both at the North and the South, and that we may then behold a 
punishment that shall be truly the " Traitor's Doom ! " 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIKCLE. 101 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Milk in the Cocoanut — The Parson and Author in Better Lodgings 

Opportune Discovery of Crinoline and Accompaniments — Hypocrisy 

The Parson Emigrates to the Land of Nod — A Clerical Vail Available in 
an Emergency — Somnolent Guards — Crinoline Challenged — "Who Goes 
There?" 

It was decided there was not sufficient time for further business, 
as the night was far spent, and the brethren considerably exhausted. 
A question was at once started, however, what disposition should 
be made of myself and Parson Taylor, that we might be on hand 
for the meeting of the succeeding night. It was suggested by 
some that we be confined in the dungeon of the Temple ; but others 
proposed that there would be no danger in allowing us to go to the 
hotel, with an efficient guard, as the landlord would exercise the 
utmost vigilance for our safe keeping. 

" That I will," responded a burly Knight. " If they are not 
forthcoming when wanted, I agree to fill their places." 

Here was the explanation of a portion of the milk in the cocoa- 
nut, and I understood where mars' went " wid de cunnel." Also, 
how our cipher had been transferred to the possession of Galveston 
Castle. But I preferred returning to the hotel, for many reasons ; 
one of which was that I liked its accommodations better than those 
of a dungeon, and another, that I did not intend to be present at 
another session of the Castle, if it was avoidable. A guard of six 
men was detailed, and permission given us to return to our lodg- 
ings. 

I asked if we might be permitted to take charge of the remains 
of Judge Firman, and forward them to his friends for burial. 

" The remains of Judge Firman will be buried at once, within 
these walls," replied the Soldan, " and no one who has not been 
here to-night will know his fate. You will know our reasons for 
this before we are through with you, and you will never mention 



102 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

the circumstances you have just witnessed, under pain of a similar 
fate. You will understand these matters better when we meet 
again." 

The Parson and I were then blindfolded and led away by tne 
guard. We traversed long passages and many large rooms, and I 
finally knew, by the change of air, that we were once more outside 
of that thieves' stronghold, and breathing a purer atmosphere. 
But we were forced to travel a great distance with our eyes cov- 
ered, and not till we were within a single square of the hotel were 
the bandages removed. My baggage was ordered into the double 
room that had been at first engaged by the Judge and Parson, and 
then commenced a thorough overhauling and diligent search by 
our guard. They found nothing of a suspicious character, and 

after appropriating a few articles that seemed to strike their fancy, 
gave the balance back to our possession. We were informed that 
the door and windows of our room would be securely fastened, and 
a strong force posted around the house, so that every chance of 
escape was cut off. We were allowed the privacy of the room, 
however, and after attending to the security of the windows, the 
guard withdrew. I knew that we were watched from a distance, 
and that any conversation we might indulge in would be overheard, 
and therefore said to Brother Taylor that we would talk only on 
the most ordinary subjects, without alluding to our present situa- 
tion in any manner. We thought it best to retire to bed as though 
nothing extraordinary had happened, and signified as much to each 
other by very quiet signs that we understood, but which would not 
have conveyed a very intelligible idea to an ordinary observer. 
Necessity is a great sharpener of the wits. 

I commenced disrobing at once, and as I opened the wardrobe to 
hang up my clothing, I espied hanging therein a lady's dress and 
divers other article of female apparel. My plans were formed on 
the instant. Many times, in my earlier days, had I disguised my- 
self in female dress, and passed myself off among intimate acquaint- 
ances as the anonymous heroine of a score of madcap adventures. 
My form, long hair, contour of my face, small feet and hands, were 
all favorable to the success of the deception, and it required only 
coolness and address to extricate myself from present difficulties, 
provided the dress was of proper dimensions, and I could find all 
the little accompaniments that constitute the nameless graces of a 
feminine outfit. It occurred to me that it would be folly to acquaint 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 108 

my companion with my discovery or designs, as it would be impos- 
sible to make him a party to the adventure ; and, in fact, I felt no 
compunctions at leaving him, for I had discovered that he would 
make way with the Galveston Knights, and agree to everything 
they imposed, without compromises of honor or conscience. It 
was near morning. Parson Taylor was very tired, and probably 
would soon sleep. I therefore dispatched my undressing, and was 
quickly in bed. 

"As we are expected to attend another meeting of the Castle 
to-morrow night," said I, in a loud tone, " it is best we get what 
rest we can. I have no idea, however, that we will be called upon 
to undergo as much labor as we have to-night ; for I see nothing 
extremely objectionable in the requirements of the Soldan, and I 
am fully determined to comply with his wishes, when we meet 
again /" 

"Just my view of the matter," responded the Parson, "and I 
am truly rejoiced to find that we agree. Had our lamented friend 
properly reasoned the subject he would have been with us at this 
moment; and I shall always believe that he fell a sacrifice to the 
natural obtuseness of his intellect." 

0, Hypocrisy ! what a goodly outside ! 

It was nearly an hour before I heard the hard, regular breathing, 
that assured me the Parson was sound asleep. The house was very 
quiet. I slipped carefully from the bed, and crept to the door on 
my hands and knees. With one eye at the keyhole, I discovered 
a dim light in the hall, — with one ear turned to the same neutral 
position, I enjoyed the sonorous respirations of a heavy sleeper. 
I tried the door, gently at first, and then with a little more force, 
but it would not yield. It was locked, and, without doubt the key 
was in the pocket of the sleeping guard ! 

Here was a difficulty I had not couuted on, and I was about re- 
turning to bed, when it occurred to me to examine the lock more 
closely. I found, on inspection, that the port into which the bolt 
was forced, was simply fastened to the door-frame by two ordinary 
screws, the heads of which projected considerably ; and it did not 
require the extreme stretch of my inventive genius to discover that 
the blade of my pocket-knife would turn these screws, and allow 
me to open the door as easily as though it were unlocked. 

And now for the wardrobe. As I opened it, I glanced at the 
window, and saw that day was just dawning. My " maiden " toilet 



104 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

must be hasty, if I would have it effective, and I therefore lost no 
time in bewailing the fact that I had " nothing to wear." There 
was all I needed; skirts, hoops, chemise, long white stockings, lit- 
tle gaiter boots, a pink shawl, and one of the jauntiest hats you 
would find in a whole day's shopping. They fitted so-so, but 
would have been all right, had I not deemed it prudent to wear my 
pants and vest underneath, as a reserve, whose services some pos- 
sible contingency might call into action. I 'expect the ill-will of 
my lady readers for this evident profanation, as I can only plead 
the remarkable exigencies of the occasion in excuse ! 

As in other days, I rolled my pants up beyond the point where 
impertinent curiosity would make any unpleasant discoveries; drew 
on the long stockings of snowy whiteness, and fastened them with 
the delicate garters ; wedged my feet into the little gaiters without 
accident; donned the hoops, the balmoral and the white skirts; 
put on the dress, the shawl, the hat, and the gloves ; shoved what 
remained of my masculine a pparel up the chimney ; and, presto ! 
here I was Hattie Billings, with two rows of buttons down the 
front, and flounces all around ! But I must haye a vail, for rouge 
and alabaster require time and patience, and time was flying rapidly. 
I searched through the wardrobe, in several bandboxes, and all 
through the hiding places of the room, but no vail rewarded my 
labors. I had almost concluded to go without, and " face down " 
everybody I might meet, when I happened to recollect a large 
piece of crape on the Parson's hat. I took it without a single 
twinge of conscience, for I was convinced he wore it as an emblem 
of sentiments he did not feel ; and, although it was a poor substi- 
tute for what I wanted, it did me good service in a time of great 
need. 

I lost no time in opening the door, which I effected noiselessly. 
As I stepped into the hall, I discovered two of the guard lying on 
the floor, evidently in deep slumber; but as I turned into a darker 
portion of the passage where the rays of the dim light did not pen- 
etrate, I was confronted by a more wakeful sentinel, with piece at 
shoulder, who challenged me, in a gruff voice, with the query, 

k ' Who sroes there ? " 




THE SPY OF THE HATCHIE. 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 105 



CHAPTER XII. 

Missy Clary personified — Liberty Regained — Widows plenty in Galveston — 
Influence of the Almighty Dollar on " Widder Kindercut" — Hoops Dis- 
carded in tlic Land of Dreams — Galveston women not posted as to that 
fact — Hunger requires no Luxury — Uncalled-for room-mate — Price of an 
Escaped Prisoner in the Lone Star State. 

Before I had time to recover my scattered wits, the accommo- 
dating fellow came to my rescue with the remark : 

" Oh, it's a woman ! Beg parding, mum ; but we're here on 
guard, and have very strict orders ; we've nothing to do with wo- 
men folks ; so you may pass along, ef yer like." 

I curtesied deeply, and moved forward, thinking it might not 
become me to utter my thoughts in that company. Tripping down 
the stairs in all the careless abandon of wild eighteen, I espied 
another member of the Soldan's special police, in the hall below. 
He looked up with a startled air, when he heard my step, coolly 
brought his gun to a line with my head, and commanded : 

» Halt ! " 

The loud, sharp tones of his voice echoed through the house, and 
I soon heard foot-steps approaching in several directions. My first 
impulse prompted me to throw myself on the mercy of the man, 
and trust in Providence for the issue ; but, as I was on the point of 
doing so, a door was opened from one of the lower rooms, and a 
negro boy entered. He stared at the sentinel, and then looked at 
me inquiringly. Finally, some idea of the situation found its way 
through his tangled wool, and he excitedly exclaimed : 

' ; Yer gwine ter kill Missy Clary? Um ! better not du dat. 
Mas'r kill yer, sAore." 

" Jem, is thet thar Missy Clary, true ? " queried the guard. 

"Shore, true, thet am; so, drap yer dam ole shutein' iron, er 
thar'll be trubbel." 

One of the guard at the upper landing now inquired : 

"What's the matter with thet woman?" 



106 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

"Nothin' much," replied the guard of the first floor, "only I 
halted her ter obey orders. It's Missy Clary, Jem says, so yer kin 
jist go back an' mind yer own bizness, an' I'll take good kere o' 
mine. Yer ain't halted no longer, mum," said he to me, " an' I 
beg parding." 

" Haw ! haw ! " laughed the upper floor guard, " Dick Walsh is 
growin' monsus sharp. He's 'feered them spies will git away in 
wimmin's fixins." 

I did not wait to hear the continuation of this interesting confab, 
but unlimbered at once, and proceeded, with a dignified gait, to the 
main door of the hotel. It was locked and bolted, but the keys 
were there, and the bolts easily withdrawn. I trembled under an 
ague of fear, that would have betrayed me, had I been closely 
watched ; but I at last succeeded in making my egress, without ac- 
cident, and found myself alone, in the streets of Galveston, at lib- 
erty to go whithersoever my inclinations tended. 

I had no fixed plan, but the idea had in some manner possessed 
me, that if I could make my situation known to some woman, that 
had facilities to hide me for a few days, I would be able to escape 
from the city. The question was, how to find the woman. I 
walked about for near an hour, revolving this idea in my mind ; 
and when I had arrived at something like a plan, found myself far 
out in the suburbs, among the negro huts and poorer whites. I 
knocked at the door of a decent appearing cottage, and was an- 
swered by a young lady with a tolerably good-looking countenance 
and a shabby dress. 

" I am looking for a widow lady," Said I, " who lives somewhere 
in this part. I have forgotten her name, but would know if I heard 
it. Do you know of any widows living hereabout? " 

" Widders ? golly, yes ! Ther's mor'n yer kin shake a stick at. 
Widder Sutton, she lives over thar," pointing across the street, 
" an then thar's widder Oliver, and widder Jones, and widder Pul- 
lan, an' a thousan' more. Mother's a widder, tu. Is it enny of 
them I " 

" What is your mother's name ? " 

" Widder Kindercut, mum." 

" Ah, that's it," said I, resolved to make a bold push, hit or miss. 
"Can I see her?" 

" 'Course yer kin. Walk along ! " 

I entered the house, and followed the girl to the living room, 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 107 

where I found a woman of about forty-five, engaged in the labors 
of the household. 

" Woman wants ter see yer," was the form of introduction 
adopted by the girl. 

The " widder" glanced at me uneasily, took a black pipe from 
her lips, and grunted out : 

" Take a cheer. Wat yer want ?" 

" I called, my good woman, to see you on a little matter of busi- 
ness ; to accomplish which it seems proper that I consult you alone. 
Will you favor me with a few moments in private I" 

"Wal, reckon it's no use. Sary's all that's har', and yer may 
say what yer please 'fore her." 

"Well, then, I am away from home, on business. I am alone, 
and do not like to stop at a hotel, unprotected. Hearing that there 
was a genteel, respectable widow lady living here, I resolved to 
apply to you for board and lodging while I am in the city, and for 
which I am willing to pay liberally." 

" Dunno. Reckon can't du it. ■ How much'll yer pay ?" 

" Whatever you think is right, my good woman. Will two dollars 
a day satisfy you?" 

" Tu dollars ? Say three, and it's a go !" 

"Very well ; three dollars it is. I shall want a room by myself, 
where I can rest from the fatigues of my journey, and where I can 
remain undisturbed at my leisure." 

" Yer kin hev it ; but must see ther money fust." 

I handed her a ten dollar piece, which proved an efficient " open 
sesame" to her heart, for she said, with all the politeness she could 
muster, 

" Yer a true lady, shore. Walk inter thet thar' room, an' see ef 
it's sootable. Sary, show ther lady." 

I found a comfortable apartment, tolerably furnished, and a very 
good bed. The bed was tempting, for sleep had not visited my 
eyelids for more than twenty-four hours. So, telling the girl I 
would not need breakfast, I dismissed her, slipped off my hoops, 
fastened the doors, and was in the land of dreams in five minutes. 

That was a glorious sleep, and a long repose ; for it was late in 
the day when a sharp rapping at the door awakened me, and the 
voice of my hostess inquired, 

" Arn't yer hungry ? Come an' take a bite of somethin' er 
yer'll starve." 



108 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Soon as I can dress," I answered. 

" Laws, Sary,' 2 I heard her say, " ef that thar' woman arn't 
ondressed !" 

I made my toilet, parted my hair in the middle, after a great 
deal of wetting and combing, admired myself several times in the 
widow's cracked mirror, and then went to "■ take a bite of some- 
thin'. " I made a hearty meal of " corn bread and common duins," 
which was the fare at Hotel Kindercut. I will say, however, that I 
never partook of a meal with a keener relish, and what was lacking 
in quality I made up liberally in quantity. The widow was full of 
pleasant talk, with an occasional joke that sounded just a little 
coarse from the lips of a female; but she was ignorant of the sex 
my skirts disguised, and perhaps excusable. I praised her viands, 
and evidently succeeded in establishing myself firmly in her favor. 

The meal over, I again retired to my room, as I thought it 
advisable to keep as much as possble from view ; but the widow 
soon followed me, and said: 

" I guv yer this room 'thout thinkin' ter say that Sary'll hev ter 
sleep har tu ; but reckon yer'll not kere. She'll wash herseff 'fore 
she goes ter bed, and won't 'sturb yer in ther leas'. She'm a good 
chile, and reckon yer'll kinder lik' 'er." 

What could I say ? What could I do ? What, under these cir- 
cumstances, was my duty to myself and to the widow ? If I dis- 
covered my true character she would turn me adrift. If I carried 
out my assumed programme I might do her a great wrong. If I 
objected to her proposition I should offend her, and jeopardize my 
safety. If I assented to it, — 

Well, there was no other course, for nice distinctions could not 
be considered now; so I said, 

" I shall like her, without doubt, and have no objection to your 
proposal." 

" Mabbe ye'd like to go down in ther town. Sary'll go with yer, 
ef yer like, an' show yer all ther places." 

" Not to-night, my good woman ; I am too much fatigued. Is 
there any news to-day ?" 

" 0, yes ! I ean 'most forgot. A pris'ner er somthin' got away 
last night, an' ther's a great noise 'bout it. Ther offer a hundred 
dollars fer him, dead er alive. God ! wouldn't I like ter nab him ?" 
■ A " You ? 0, no ! A lady would not desire to engage in such busi- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 109 

ness, I imagine. You only would like to have the hundred dollars. 
Is not that the point ?" 

" Sartin' ! that's all I'd kere. Ther pris'ner might go where he 
pleased ef I on'y had ther cash." 

The lovely widow then withdrew, and I occupied myself until 
night with several old newspapers and pamphlets I found in the 
room. They were the household library. 



110 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Modesty severely Tested — Caution comes to the Rescue — Waking Dreams be- 
tween the Sheets — Proximity of the Sex murders Sleep — Disguised Crino- 
line in Jeopardy — Galveston Feminines not quite such Fools as they seem 
— The Author must needs " cave," and resorts to the Golden Charm — He 
makes a Virtue of Necessity, and bargains for a more Masculine Metamor- 
phosis. 

"Adversity makes us acquainted with strange bedfellows." The 
lessons of adversity, properly appreciated, rarely fail to prove of 
great benefit to the attentive student ; but there is no system of 
ethics that furnishes me rules for moralizing on the bedfellows. 

At an early hour of the gloaming, Sary entered my room, and, 
saws ceremonie, commenced divesting herself of her clothing, pre- 
paratory to retiring. I am naturally modest, and like to do good 
by stealth ; I, therefore, very cautiously changed my position, 
turned my chair, and seated myself with my back toward her. I 
bit my lips with the determination of a Joseph, and indulged in 
many severe reflections on the status and general character of Mrs. 
Potipher ! 

The motions of Sary, pattering of her bare feet, rustle of her gar- 
ments, and general preparation for a tete-a-tete with the sleepy god, 
kept me awake to her presence ; and I soon heard the motion of 
the bed covering, the contented sigh at the prospect of grateful re- 
pose, and all was suddenly still. She had not spoken a word ; and 
I had not dared to risk the unsteadiness of my utterance, even in 
the presence of that untutored girl ; for there is an instinct im- 
planted in every nature that takes alarm from tones and motions, 
however much we may seek to counteract their influence by smiles 
and fair words. 

In a few minutes the heavy respiration of the maiden assured 
me she was slumbering, and I therefore concluded to prepare for 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. Ill 

my own rest. After examining all the fastenings of the windows 
and doors, closing the shutters, drawing the curtains close, looking 
under the bed and in the wardrobe, I relieved myself of crinoline 
and gaiters, extinguished the light, and deposited myself between 
the snowy sheets of the widow Kindercut's best shake-down, with 
a firm trust in Providence. I reclined my weary head on the wid- 
ow's downy pillows, with a conscientious reliance in the teachings 
of Plato ; and drew the counterpane up under my chin, with a quiet 
smile at my shivering tremors. It was quiet without, and quiet 
within, but I did not sleep. In fact, it was several hours before 
I could sufficiently subdue the nervousness induced by my peculiar 
situation, to make any respectable advances to "nature's sweet re- 
storer ; " and even when I thought myself in proper mood for a 
comfortable snooze, naughty thoughts would creep into my mind 
and set my brain whirling again. 

I finally composed myself in a remarkable degree by repeating 
the catechism, mentally, and then by sending my thoughts away to 
distant scenes, and dwelling on the occurrences of past years ; but, 
at last, when all was promising serenity and peace, Sary was sud- 
denly taken with a restless fit, gave a great kick, rolled over plump 
against me, threw her arms around my neck and exclaimed, pas- 
sionately : 

" Wy, Sam, wus yer liar ? " 

Heigho ! I am not sure I slept at all that night. My recol- 
lections are sadly mixed and confused; but I do know that, turn- 
ing my back to Sary, I went to thinking vigorously of the ten com- 
mandments, Watts' hymns, and the Constitution of the United 
States. These exhausted, I wondered what might be doing at San 
Augustine : what the G. K. would think when he knew the action 
of the Galveston Castle, and what my wife would think, could she 
realize ray present situation under protection of widow Kindercut. 
Other things I thought of would fill a volume ; what my mind did 
not run on, is not worth mentioning. 

Through all the weary hours of that night, I implored Morpheus 
in vain — suffering miserably, and knowing it were vain to expect 
relief. It was by far the longest night I ever experienced, and 
would make a chapter in Sala's Philosophy Between the Sheets, of 
absorbing interest. Such a chapter would be out of place here. 

Morning came tardily through a dense fog; but with the first 
peep of dawn I arose, though unrefreshed, and made my hybrid 



112 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

toilet. I had not taken off the outer dress, and retained under its 
broad folds my pants and vest, for fear of sudden surprises. I sup- 
posed Sary to be yet asleep, as she was very quiet; but as I was 
arranging hoops and skirts, in my awkward way, I thought I de- 
tected a suppressed giggle from the bed. Looking around suddenly, 
I was just in time to catch a glimpse of a head dodging beneath the 
counterpane. I said at once : 

" Good morning, Sary." 

No reply. 

" Sary, will you dress and take a walk with me ? " 

" Eh ? " with a sleepy yawn. 

" Come ! you're no.t asleep. Will you dress and take a walk ? " 

" Reckon not. Don't want ter git up yit, kaise its tu airly." 

" Well, I'm going out, but will return in time for breakfast." ; 

It looked as though the jig was up, for the girl had evidently 
penetrated my disguise, and would lose no time in communicating 
her discovery to the widow ; but I resolved to put on a bold front, 
and proceed to the carrying out of my plans as circumstances would 
seem to dictate. My walk did not extend far, for my anxieties 
soon compelled me to retrace my steps. When I returned, the 
widow met me at the door with many smiles and hearty greetings, 
and with great cordiality invited me to the morning meal. Her 
manner was entirely changed from the previous day, and she was 
jovial and hearty in the extreme ; so much so, in fact, that it 
seemed affectation. We were seated around the comfortably fur- 
nished table, and then commenced the gossip usual on such occa- 
sions, with a fair spicing of the widow's peculiar jokes and boister- 
ous merriment. At length, with a sudden movement, she turned 
to me and said abruptly : 

" Mabbe I didn' har yer name rightly wen yer fust [come ; ef I 
did, I disremembers it." .^f 

" Billings, ma'am ; I am called Hattie Billings at home." 

"Reckon thet's a lie! Yer arn't no woman, but a man, s7wre, — 
an yer knows it." 

" But, my good woman, you do not suppose — " 

"No, no! I did'nt say 'spose; I sed shore, an' I say it agin." 

" What object do you think I could have in trying to deceive 
you as to my sex ?" 

'* Ha ! ha ! thet's the pint ! Why, man, yer ther prisn'er, Wright, 
kaise thet's jist ther rig he stole frum Clary Jen'nins, an' got 'way 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 113 

frum ther guard kaise they 'sposed 'twas Clary. Ha ! ha ! thet 
was dun slick, but yer can't play it onter me, stranger ! Sary, 
lock them doors, an' ef he moves, hit him yer damndest with thet 
thar poker. We'll hev ther hundred, or blood enuff ter make it 
squar ! " 

" Hear me a moment," said I, " and I think you will not con-/ 
sider it necessary to lock the doors or spill blood. Assuming that 
I am the person you suppose, and you arrest and hand me over to 
those who have offered a reward for my apprehension ; what then ? 
Do you think they will pay you a hundred dollars ? Do you im- 
agine they will give a woman credit for so important an arrest ? 
No ; but they will at once charge you with hiding me from their 
search, which I will confirm, and then, instead of obtaining the 
promised reward, you will be arrested as an accomplice, and be 
compelled to suffer a long imprisonment. But if you let me make 
terms with you, all will be well. I will give you a hundred dollars, 
provided you keep my presence here a secret, and assist me in pro- 
curing such disguise, in exchange for this, as shall assist me in 
eluding the observation of those who are now on my track, till I 
can escape from the city. I have the money, and will hand it over 
when you procure me the dress of a countryman, a false beard, and 
a pair of good revolvers, for all of which I will pay a round price. 
Now, what say you f " 

" Then yer be Wright, sartin ! Wal, I 'spect yer a gentleman, 
an' so I don't mind, pervided yer pays smartly. Yes, Sary an' I'll 
git ther fixins for yer, I reckon. 'Spose yer wants ter be orf sud- 
dent?" 

" Soon as possible. In an hour, if arrangements can be com- 
pleted in that time." 

" Wich ther jist can't, but mabbe after dinner it kin be fixed. 
Ther fixins' yer wants will take a heap o' change, an' yer'd best 
shell out now. Sary'll go ter town for 'em right away." 

I handed the girl some gold, which she took with a strange grim- 
mace, and then donned her hat and left on a run. Her looks and 
motions did not reassure me, but I had no course but to patiently 
await the result of her mission, and hope for the best. 



114 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Suspense — " Widder Kindercut" on the Alert — Down the Cellar — Suspicious 
Bundle — Another Disguise Essential to Safety — One Hundred Dollars 
Pass Like a Dose of Salts — Kindercut Personified Lowers the Dignity of 
Texan Valor — Whisky a Remedial Agent in Desperate Cases — How Sary 
Concealed False Whiskers — Capillary Adornments Rather Expensive. 

The widow was very talkative. She wouldnot lose sight of me 
for a moment, but when I went into the sleeping room she fol- 
lowed, not more than two paces in the rear, and kept her eyes on 
all my motions. She staid there while I staid, and when I re- 
turned to the living room, she was still my shadow. Her eyes told 
me as easily as her lips could have worded it that she had a 
hundred dollars interest in me, and she would take good care of it. 
She was doubtless a very prudent manageress. 

Thus passed three or four hours, and about noon I began to get 
nervous. Although it seemed to me the widow would not neglect 
her pecuniary interest, and render it questionable, by betraying 
me, of course I did not know what secret motives were lying at 
the bottom of her skirmishing ; and Sary might, at that moment, 
be engaged in bargaining my liberty for a better price than I had 
bid. The Kindercuts were evidently shrewd, with all their igno- 
rance ; and if they possessed any principles of honor, they doubt- 
less allowed them to lie dormant for more suitable occasions. Still 
time passed, and Sary did not come. 

" I am afraid some accident has happened the girl," said I. 
" She is now at least two hours over the time you fixed." 

" Never yer fear. Thet gal '11 come all straight, shore ; an' she 
knows ther best plans for workin' it. Don't be afeerd, not in ther 
least." 

Another hour passed, and then the widow began to look troubled. 
She gazed anxiously from the window, paced the floor rapidly, 
puffed at her pipe with uncommon vigor, and gave ample evidence 



KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CHICLE. 115 

of extreme nervous excitement. Glancing out the window again, 
she exclaimed, suddenly, 

" Through that door with yer, inter ther celler. Don't make a 
noise, but be still es a dead man till yer hear from me. Quick 
now ! " 

I was in the cellar quick enough, but there was no tim-3 to spare 
before I heard a knocking at the door, and soon the sound of 
voices in conversation. It was a lengthy tete a tete, and evidently 
interesting, for occasionally I heard the widow's coarse tones 
pitched high, and her foot brought down heavily, to give emphasis 
to the text. After a time she opened the cellar door and called, 

" Miss Billing, yer kin come up. Thar's summat yer wants to 
know." 

I found a young girl with Madam Kindercut, apparently a dozen 
years old ; and this was her story, divested of idiomatic verbiage : 

Sary had arrived at her (the girl's) mother's house at about their 
dinner hour, pursued by three men, who insisted on examining the 
contents of a bundle she carried. She told them it was a suit of 
clothes, and a few other articles, that a shopkeeper in the city was 
sending to this woman's house, and that she knew nothing regard- 
ing the articles, except that she was to leave them there, for which 
service the shopkeeper had paid her. The men came into the house 
rudely, took possession of the bundle, examined it thoroughly, in- 
quired as to the exact location of the shopkeeper, and then left. 
Sary did not dare to take the bundle away — did not like to lose 
sight of it, and thereupon sent the girl to report progress to her 
mother and myself. And now the widow wanted to know what was 
to be done. 

I thought a moment. 

" Madam," said I, " I have the utmost reliance in your honesty 
of purpose and the judgment of Sary. I wish now to personate 
yourself to your child, and, in order to go to her rescue in proper 
order, wish to exchange this dress for a suit of yours. I will make 
the change, and accompany this child to her mother's, where, I have 
no doubt, we shall succeed in outwitting those who are on her track 
in search of me." 

" But they'll nab yer, ef yer go," replied the widow. 

" No more than they would you," I replied. " Get me the dress, 
and see what a splendid widow Kindercut I'll make." 

She did as I directed, and I withdrew to my room and made the 



116 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

change. I wrinkled my face with clay and burnt cork, drew a de- 
lapidated bonnet over my head, stuck a short pipe between my 
lips, and hobbled forth. 

" 'Clar to grashus ! " screamed the old woman, " that thar arn't 
yer sen ? Wal, I'm dun beat, shore. Ef I look as nigh ther divil 
as that, yer may shute me." 

And she laughed merrily. 

" Do you think I'll pass ? " 

" Shore, true, yer will. Yer'll go through like a dose o' salts." 

I felt complimented. Counting a hundred dollars into her ready 
palm, I said : 

" I shall remember you gratefully, and will make such a com- 
pensation to Sary for her services as shall fully satisfy you both." 

" Jist throw in another ten for luck, now," pleaded the woman. 

I was certainly taken aback by her effrontry, but did as she pro- 
posed, and said my adieus. 

There was plenty of time on the way to instruct my little com- 
panion in her role, and, when we arrived, she was fully posted. 
She went in first to reconnoiter and instruct Sary in the general 
plan, the principal point of which was to call me "mother," first, 
last, and all the time, regardless of what might happen. I soon 
followed, and Sary said : 

" 'Spec yer thort I wus lost, mother, but I kin take kere uv my- 
seff yit. Want me ter hum ? " 

" Wal, no ! But wat's ther muss, Sary ? " Es ther enny trub- 
bel?" 

" Golly ! 'pears ter me 'tis mother, shored Then recollecting 
herself, she added, " ther's a feller comin' down ther road thar, 
thet'll make trubbel ef he kin. Him an' two other fellers was har, 
an' looked in ther bundle, an' then went back ter town ter see 
'bout it. He'll do some divilment, mabbe, when he gits har." 

Sure enough, there he came, with gun across his shoulder, and a 
military style that seemed to court promotion in every movement. 
He marched through the gate into the yard, up the steps and into 
the house, like one having authority. 

" Aha, yer little cuss ! " said he, as his eyes alighted on Sary ; 
" I'm arter ye, so git yer baggidge and come along. Yer'll hev a 
sweet time, I reckin, in ther stun jug." 

" Jist yer keep still, Sary," said I, " till we find wat all this yar's 
about. I reckon thar's no great hurry." 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 117 

"Damn yer, jist talk wen yer hev summat ter say, :> responded 
the fellow, turning sharply on me. " 'Spose yer own thet brat, an' 
mabbe hev brung her up ter steal things frum 'onest folks. Yer 
kin jist come along tu." 

" Oh, mammy ! " exclaimed Sary, "now yer air in trubble tu — 
0, dear ? 0, dear ! wat kin I du ? " 

" Do as I do. Whoop ! " I shouted, at the top of my voice ; and 
falling briskly on the poor frightened devil, I wrenched the rifle 
from his grasp, and, with a powerful blow, felled him to the floor. 
Blood flowed profusely, but I lost no time in securing my game, so 
handsomely grounded, with strong cords about arms and legs. The 
people about me were in an ecstasy of fear, but obeyed my orders 
with alacrity, prepared a rude couch for my patient, and furnished 
me water and restoratives to bring him around again. He soon 
opened his eyes, and gazed at us with stupid wonder. He did'nt 
clearly see all the points, so I waited and formed my plans. 

In about an hour he asked for a drink of whisky. Convinced 
that this was sufficient evidence of returning reason, I approached 
him and said : 

" I am sorry to see a man persecuting a little girl, and trying to 
intimidate unprotected women, because he imagines himself strong- 
est. I apprehend you found your match, this time ; and now I have 
a proposition to make, which you will do well to heed and comply 
with. I have coat, pants and vest, in this bundle, that I am going 
to exchange for your's. I shall also borrow your rifle, and such 
other articles about you that will suit my convenience. These mat- 
ters you will not report to any one, on pain of treatment similar 
to that you have just received. You will remain in this house 
through the night, nor attempt to leave it, on your peril." 

"Jist so, old woman. Jist as you say; I don't keer a damn! 
But, fer God's sake, guv me some whisky." 

I poured him out a large drink, which he gulped down greedily, 
and then arose to a sitting posture. 

" Ef yer want them fixins," said he "take 'em, and be damned; 
but let a feller hev summat ter drink." 

I commenced relieving him of his dry goods at once, feafing I 
had already wasted too much time, conversing in the meanwhile to 
attract his attention. 

"You know I am not a woman," said I; "for a woman never 
strikes such a blow as you just received." 



118 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" Yas ; I know well 'nuff. Yer the feller I'd like tu ketch, fer 
'twould be wuth jist a clean hunderd; but 'scuse me frum ketching 
enny more jist now." 

The exchange of clothing was easily effected, and I retired to 
another room to array myself in the garb of the wounded man. I 
wanted his clothes because I knew he could describe them, per- 
fectly ; and my idea was to wear them away from the house, and 
manage to exchange them, at the first opportunity, for something 
entirely different, so that the description of dress, in the hands of 
my pursuers, would lead my enemies astray till I was beyond their 
reach. When I returned, I found the man in good spirits, for Sary 
understood the general features of the plan sufficiently to give him 
plenty of whisky, and he was whisky-happy with a vengeance. I 
called Sary aside and asked if she succeeded in finding a false 
beard. She had, but it was hidden about her person where it was 
necessary for her to retire to a private apartment to discover; but 
it was soon in my possession. I then gave her twenty dollars, the 
same amount to the woman of the house ; charged them to let the 
prisoner go in the morning ; shouldered the rifle and sallied forth 
on my uncertain pilgrimage. 




PRMi imm 



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QQ 



35 

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Jiiwj^iiiiil 



10 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRJLE. 119 



CHAPTER XV. 

Galvestox in the background, and Lafitte's Fort the hoped-for Haven of 
Safety — The Hand Bill — Short "Shutes" have their Impediments — "Devil's 
Hole" prepares for a Siege — Quagmires hold tight — Friendship in the rough 
not to be Sneezed at — Booty and Beauty — Rendezvous in the Cactus. 

In an hour I was beyond the corporate limits of Galveston, but 
did not think it best to stop till I had placed several miles between 
me and the city. I had an indefinite idea of the location of Lafitte's 
Fort, and the old rendezvous of his band, on the west shore of the 
island; and it was my intention, without anf tangible reason why, 
to proceed thither, and lie in hiding until the excitement attending 
my escape had died away. Night overtook me when I had accom- 
plished about ten miles of the journey, but the breeze from the bay 
had dispelled the fog, and the stars twinkled in all their loveliness. 
I trudged along briskly, much elated at the success of my plans of 
escape, and now convinced that I would outwit my persecutors. 
Such is the effect of a fair prospect on a sanguine temperament. 

At about nine o'clock I came to a small country inn, and, after 
carefully reconnoitering, concluded to stop for refreshments. I 
entered and called for supper, which was promised in a short time. 
While it was preparing, I sauntered about the public room, reading 
the notices of runaway negroes, auction sales, etc., till my eye 
caught a small paper, setting forth, in cramped chirography, a de- 
scription of the person of Edmund Wright, and offering a reward 
of one hundred dollars for his apprehension. I became so inter- 
ested in this paper that I read and re-read it, until the landlord, a 
hearty, jovial countryman, came up, slapped me on the shoulder, 
and remarked : 

" So yer arter the hundred, tu ? Wal, yer chances air mighty 
slim, fer mor'n a dozen hev gone fer it, and not 'nour ago three 



120 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

fellers stopped, and tuk suthin with me, thet was agoin tu old La- 
fitte's fort, kaise ther 'spect this Wright cuss lies hid thai*. Whar 
be yer gwine ter look?" 

" I was gwine ter the fort tu," I replied, adopting the vernacular 
lingo ; " but dunno the road rightly, kaise never was thar." 

" Wall, 's no use. Them fellers '11 ketch 'im ef 'es thar ; but ef 
yer bound ter go thar, I'll guv yer th' shute." 

" Ef I don't help, I'll see ther sport, so yer may as well guv me 
ther pints." 

He therefore gave me full directions. There were two ways of 
going, one of which was short, and dangerous, in consequence of 
swamps and chapparel ; the more lengthy route, a good road, and 
the one taken by my pursuers. Of course, I at once decided on 
the short " shute " in my mind, but gave my host the impression I 
would go the other way. 

I ate a good supper, replenished my whisky flask, paid the reck- 
oning, and sallied forth. Keeping the main road for near a mile, 
I found the signs indicating the short route, and at once turned to 
encounter its uncertain dangers. It was truly the rough way, and 
my experience began "with the first thirty yards, for I had not pro- 
ceeded more than this distance when I missed my footing on a log, 
and sank to my waist in the miry clay. Had I not clung to some 
boughs that were happily within my reach, I would have doubtless 
disappeared altogether, for there was no perceptible bottom to the 
marsh, and, as they say in those diggings, it was "powerful saft." 
The boughs, however, were not of sufficient strength to pull me out, 
but merely kept me in position, and I was startled to find that every 
effort I made to extricate myself, only caused me to sink lower in 
the mire ! Keeping quiet as possible, I tried to devise ways and 
means to bring myself again to the surface ; but the log, the only 
substantial foundation of my hopes, was behind me, and I dared not 
make the necessary exertion to " face about." My rifle was slung 
with a strap across my shoulders, and it seemed that I might detach 
it, reach the log, and lift myself by the leverage thus furnished — i 
and was preparing to execute this plan when I heard the sound of 
voices and footsteps approaching from the forest of chapparel. I 
quickly examined my piece, cocked it, and prepared to defend my 
position ; nor were these preparations too promptly made, for just 
then the bull's-eye of a dark lantern was turned upon the very spot 
I occupied, and a voice exclaimed: 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 121 

" Lay low, boys ! I seen sutliin' shine like a rifle bar'l out thar 
in the Devil's Hole, an' I reckin it means trubbel. We oughtn' ter 
come out this way, an' I know'd it; but now we're har, thar's no 
use ter turn tail. We'll tarn orf ther glim, an' hail ther innemy." 

<l Wy, Dare, I didn' see nothink," said another voice. " Mabbe 
some o' them Galveston chaps air sportin' round, but who keers fer 
'em har? We cud lay out twenty o' them chaps, shore, so don't git 
skeert. Ho thar !" he shouted, " who's a hidin' in ther Devil's 
Hole?*' 

Convinced they were not my pursuers, and experiencing some- 
thing like a hankering for their friendly interference, I answered: 

" I'm a stranger in these parts, have lost my way, and fell into 
the swamp, from which I can not release myself without assistance. 
If you will lend me a hand, I shall be grateful." 

" Thet arn't no Galveston chap," said the first speaker, "fer I 
know that by his patter. Les lend a han', Bill Davis, an' pull 
him outn' the mud." 

Again showing the light, they advanced very cautiously, peering 
anxiously into the gloom, as though suspicious of an ambuscade. 
At length they reached the log that had formed the stumbling- 
block to my progress, and I reached to them the butt of my rifle, 
firmly grasping the barrel with both hands, in the expectation that 
they would draw me forth from my uncomfortable imprisonment 
without delay. But they didn't " take." In a moment I heard 
them conversing in suppressed whispers, which, by degrees, as- 
sumed the form of angry contention. 

" Course he's 'n infernel spy," said one. " Arn't sich a d — d 
fool, I jist arn't, not ter mind thet thar toggery. I say, shute ther 
cuss on ther spot, an' let 'im bury hisseff a' long es he kin put in 
ther time !" 

" Gentlemen," said I, " my dress may look suspicious, for I had 
it of a suspicious chap in the city ; but for him and his class I have 
no more friendship than you seem to have. Release me from this 
quagmire — previous to which you may disarm me, if you wish — 
and if you do not find my words true, my life is at your dis- 
posal." 

" Wal, I'm d — d ef thet thar arn't reg'lar 'nuff ; but ther can't 
be no foolin'. Ef we finds snakes, we kills em, shore; so jist keep 
yer eye peeled." 

They took possession of my rifle, cut a stout pole, and, caution- 



122 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

ing me, to loosen my feet as completely as possible from my boots, 
as the boots were now planted " for keeps," placed one end of the 
pole on a low stump that happened to be in convenient range, while 
they held firmly to the other end. 

This was the lever of my deliverance; and, grasping it firmly, I 
exerted my strength to reach terra firma at a bound. 

I could not move a hair ! Had I been impacted in the firmest 
rock — supposing such a substance to yield to my admission, and 
shape itself huggingly to my form, it seemed to me I could not be 
in a more hopeless situation. 

The men laughed heartily; and one said, 

" Thet won't tally, stranger. Yer can't pull out by no jerks ; 
but yer mus' commince gradooel, an' take it easy, like gittin' mar- 
ried. Eh, Bill ?" 

" Yas, thet's so. Ef yer got eny whisky, take a swig fust, an' 
thin commince squirmin' jist lightly. In 'bout three or four hour 
yer'll come, ef yer kin git out o' yer butes an' stan' ther 
press !" 

My God ! three or four hours ! I took a liberal draught from 
my flask, and showed symptons of squirming. In ten minutes the 
clay was considerably loosened around me, and I was able to turn 
partially, so that I had one eye on my rescuers. 

They encouraged me continually, and engaged in a cheerful con- 
versation that was very effective in keeping up my spirits. 

At length, I was enabled to draw one foot from its bootless en- 
cumbrance, and soon followed its companion ; and then, with a 
great lift, I was raised bodily from the reeking quag, and landed in 
all the damp agony of a thorough swamp pickling. 

I felt most miserably diluted, and it was quite impossible for me 
to control my perpendicular for even a moment; so I piled myself 
on a little collection of boughs that Dave and Bill collected, and, 
in reply to their questions, related my story of escape from the 
Thugs of Galveston ; not omitting to detail the manner by which I 
became possessed of the suspicious apparel in which they found me 
disguised. 

I knew, instinctively, that my story would enlist their sympa- 
thies, but was hardly prepared for the happy result that awaited its 
conclusion. 

My companions were also refugees from the persecutions of the 
Knights of the Lone Star — not on account of disagreement in pol- 



KXIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 123 

itics or ritualistic forms, but because the doughty cavaliers had 
adopted an unwritten code, into which they had engrafted the prin- 
ciple of making booty of beauty, by possessing themselves of the 
wives and daughters of such as were not connected with the order, 
and who had not sufficient influence to protect their household gods 
against the assaults of respectable scoundrels. 

These two men were possessed of wives, who, in the estimation 
of their husbands, were paragons of loveliness, and, it seems, 
others had admired ; for, in some unaccountable manner, they had 
been spirited from their homes, and when their husbands followed 
up the traces closely, and had found a clue to their whereabouts, 
the cry of " Abolitionist" was raised against them, testimony prov- 
ing their unsoundness on the nigger manufactured, and they were 
persecuted and pursued, till forced to fly to the swamps for their 
lives. And they were only two of a hundred they could mention 
who were similarly situated ! In fact, there were six others, now 
in hiding with them, who had been pursued under circumstances 
almost identical with those related ; and they proposed to conduct 
me to the rendezvous of the whole party> as soon as I felt able to 
proceed, with their assistance. 

Finding myself in safe hands, with the prospect of a secure asy- 
lum, helped to strengthen my almost exhausted energies ; and I 
was able, after a few trials, to stand on my feet, and, in a short 
time, to start off, with the assistance of my new friends, in the di- 
rection of their retreat. 

Although the distance did not exceed three miles, it was broad 
daylight when we reached the place, which was away from any path 
or track, and protected by what would seem, to a casual observer, 
an impenetrable web of cactus. It was the place, of all such I ever 
saw, in which I would choose to secrete myself, did I wish to hide 
from all the world. 



124 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Thoughts of Home — Preparations to Reach it — Another Disguise — Trail of 
the Pursuers Discovered — Break Camp on a Venture — Embarkation under 
a Salute not Bargained for — Sea Fight — Skillful Maneuvering of a Small 
Craft — The Enemy Submerged, and all is over — Haven on a Rocky 
Coast. 

During the week I spent in that cave of the swamps, I heard 
the tales of those other refugees ; and, had I space for their horri- 
ble details here, I would* present a record of crime and outrage 
sufficient to make devils blush. 

But the same miseries were in store for me, only varied by cir- 
cumstances ; and, as I am relating a personal narrative, for the in- 
tegrity of which I am individually responsible, I am reminded to 
follow the text. 

I was very anxious to return to my home, and it seemed impos- 
sible to restrain my inclination to set out on the journey at once. 
My companions, however, had discovered suspicious trails in the 
swamps, and they would not listen to my plans, until the prospect 
was brighter for leaving cover in safety. 

It was agreed that, when I did leave, they would see me beyond 
the jurisdiction of my pursuers in safety, or share my fate in a 
contest with them, provided we were forced to this extremity. 

I busied myself in preparations for my homeward journey, not 
the least important of which was a thorough remodeling of my 
dress, which I accomplished by ripping it apart, one garment at a 
time, and dying it in a coloring liquid made by my companions 
from herbs and barks. 

A friend of my fellow refugees came out from Galveston, one 
night, and by him I sent for several articles to complete my dis- 
guise and contribute to my comfort; and when it was finally an- 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 125 

nounced that our party was ready to move, I had provided myself 
a costume in which my own wife would not recognize me. I was 
dressed to the character of the accomplished desperado, and accou- 
tered properly for that role, cap-a-pie. 

On the morning of the eighth day of my " short shute" experi- 
ence, everything was in readiness to commence the homeward jour- 
ney, and scouts were sent out to reconnoiter, so that, if the signs 
were favorable, we might go forth with the night, and the better 
preserve our incognito under cover of darkness. 

A boat had been provided, with which to cross over to the main- 
land, and one of our party was sufficiently acquainted with the 
country beyond to act as a reliable guide. 

It was near night when the scouts returned, and, much to our 
chagrin, their report was not favorable. They had seen no one, 
but, late in the day, had stumbled upon a carefully covered trail, 
which, without doubt, was fresh, and indicated the close proximity 
of quite a party of men. By following this trail to a considerable 
distance, they had discovered it full of eccentricities — dodging 
about hither and thither in the utmost uncertainty, but keeping its 
general course toward Lafitte's ruins. 

Two miles from these ruins our boat was hid, and it almost 
seemed like madness to undertake to reach it as we had arranged. 
But after reasoning the matter all through, pro and con, our guide 
decided on the point that it might be just as dangerous at any other 
time, and perhaps the danger would increase with our stay there; 
it was therefore just as well to break up camp to-night and sally 
forth as to wait for a more favorable opportunity. Everything was 
made ready at once, all signs of recent occupancy of the cave des- 
troyed, and at about two hours before midnight we commenced our 
silent march in the order of single file, through cactus undergrowth 
and tall chapparel, with the determination to escape from that Texan 
Hades or die in the attempt. 

It was eleven miles to the boat. We were little more than four 
hours in making the distance; but in all that time not a word had 
been spoken by one of our party. Ideas were occasionally con- 
veyed by preconcerted signs, but the business in hand was in no 
way interfered with ; and had there been outside spectators of that 
night march they might have imagined us a company of gnomes, 
raiding on the perturbed ghosts of those who, in other days, were 
followers of the Pirate of the Gulf. S^tch was the picture to my 



126 KNIGIITS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

own fancy, and I almost wondered why the great Lafitte did not 
marshal his grim hosts under the black flag, and come forth to give 
us battle. 

We reached the river without accident, held a hasty consultation 
while the boat was brought out from its hiding place, and were just 
congratulating ourselves on our good luck, when — 

Bang ! bang ! bang ! ping ! ping ! ping ! 

Four or five bullets whistled about our ears, and lodged among 
the trees and rocks. 

" Inter ther boat, quick," commanded the guide, " an' all lay 
flat. I'll sail her, fer ther tide's out, an' well float away like ther 
devil. All in ; then away we go, and luck fer 'em as beats." 

Although the firing had greatly confused us, we were in the boat 
and away before the guide had done speaking. The tide was strong, 
and, without exertion on our part, we were riding out toward the 
bay with the speed of the wind, all lying in the bottom of the boat. 
Our pieces were carefully examined and made ready for use, for we 
could now expect nothing but a vigorous pursuit, as we had no 
doubt that preparations were ample for following us up. The guide 
was on the lookout, making every effort to penetrate the gloom in 
order to give notice of the first symptoms of danger ; but on we 
went for near an hour, and still no evidence of pursuit. Of a sudden 
Bill Davis, who had remained remarkably quiet since embarking, 
sprung to his feet and declared that he heard the sound of oars near 
by. They had a suspicious sound, as though they were muffled, but 
he " heerd 'em clus,".he whispered, "an' we'd better lay low fer 
ducks." 

" Sh ! sh ! oars in ther locks, an' shutein' irons ready," whispered 
the guide. " Thar am ther cusses on ther stab'rd bow, an' was 
lookin' for 'em on lab'rd shore. Wen I pay ' ready,' pull fer 'em 
like devils ; w'en I say ' all ready,' fire at ther heads, an' don't 
waste no ammunishun. Not a word, yer understan', and we'll beat 
'em yit." 

The strange craft was down the stream, pulling against the tide, 
and almost directly in our course. It was evident they did not see 
us ; but we had no doubt of their character from the emphatic re- 
port we had just heard, and therefore were prepared to give the 
proper tone to their reception. When we had floated to within 
perhaps twenty-five yards of them, the command was given, 
"Ready!" 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 127 

Six heavy oars sprang into the rowlocks, and the boat almost 
leaped out of the water. The enemy was confused, and we heard 
the command, 

" Boat about !" 

Then came the sound of oaths, a mixture of threats and entreat- 
ies, the report of a pistol, as if by accident, and the hail, 

"Boat ahoy!" 

We made no response ; but as the enemy's craft turned and lay 
across the current, our guide shouted, 

" All ready !" 

And the simultaneous discharge of seven rifles told how that 
order was understood. Yells of agony attested to its effect. 

" Starn all, an' run 'em down," commanded the guide. 

We were within ten feet of them, and their boat square across 
our course. Again six strong men bent to the oars, and our keel 
cut and shivered them as though they had interposed but a thread 
of tow to our progress. Another shriek of despair, a few spas- 
modic chokings as the salt sea foam entered the nostrils of .the 
drowning wretches, and all was over. Away we sped again, still 
on the lookout, till we felt certain all danger of pursuit by that 
route was over, when we tacked for the shore. 

Of course we could not calculate our bearings exactly, but by 
the light of the early dawn we ran into a small cove, on a rocky 
coast, and there awaited the developments of the full day to deter- 
mine our future action. 



128 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Inaccessible Harbor — Backwoodsmen ever ready with Resources — Perilous 
Ascent — Catastrophe to a Heroic Adventurer — He finds a Watery Grave — 
Up or Down — Desperate Efforts for Life, or Certain Death — Visions of 
Starvation — A Night of Horrible Suspense. 

We found ourselves completely hemmed in by palisades of rock, 
■with no means of egress with our boat, except by turning back on 
the course by which we came. Shoreward, the ledge rose, almost 
perpendicular, to a great hight, and at first glance it seemed impos- 
sible to find a foothold to assist in scaling the barrier ; but it was 
decided, after due deliberation, that it would be madness to turn 
back, and that we must discover some other means of changing our 
base. The guide was miserably ignorant of this cove — never had 
heard of it — and was therefore inefficient. Bill Davis proposed 
sending out scouts, who would investigate the feasibility of scaling 
the ledge ; and this plan was finally agreed upon, provided we could 
find a point on which to land the men. For this we searched sev- 
eral hours in vain, and were about despairing when one of the party 
found a tolerable fissure, about eight feet from the water, in the 
perpendicular rock, with a projection of the ledge some twenty feet 
above; and, with an alacrity of invention for which the backwoods- 
man and frontiersman are noted, he at once proposed to throw the 
"lead" over the projection in such a manner as to fasten it there 
strongly enough to sustain a man's weight on the line, and then 
climb to the fissure, or further, and make such observations as the 
position would allow. The plan was immediately put into execu- 
tion. The line caught and secured without difficulty, and the man 
commenced the toilsome ascent unhesitatingly, and climbed to the 
jagged projection without accident. He reported a fair prospect, 
that there was room for one other, and requested that one of us 



KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CIKCLE. 129 

keep him company. Bill Davis volunteered and climbed the rope 
•with the agility of a monkey; but, by some untoward mishap, as he 
was endeavoring to gain a foothold on the ledge beside his compan- 
ion, he slipped, reeled, and, after immense exertions to save him- 
self, fell, head downward, into the seething waters ! We expected 
to see him rise to the surface at once, and all eyes were upon the 
spot where he went under, but after watching for ten minutes, or 
more, with no signs of his reappearance, expectation gave place to 
fear, and we knew we would never look upon the face of that de- 
voted man again. He was in eternity ! 

The situation was distressing, but those brave hearts knew no 
fear ; and soon as it was known there was no further occasion to 
look for Davis, another volunteered to go up the rope. He made 
the point, safely, and then it was decided that those two proceed as 
far as possible in the ascent, and report their discoveries soon as 
practicable. Directly we saw the line drawn up, and then, after 
witnessing many fruitless attempts to attach it at a greater eleva- 
tion, it was caught on a point we could not see, from our location, 
and the men were soon out of sight. 

It was now late in the day, too late to expect any result from 
this reconnoisance till morning. Our provisions were getting short, 
and, to add to the general discomfort, the sky was suddenly over- 
cast with black clouds, and without doubt we would be compelled 
to pass the night in a heavy storm. There were still six of us left 
in the boat, and we busied ourselves in making all possible provis- 
ion to guard against the fury of the elements. Our craft was rock- 
ing to and fro, in unison with the dashing waves, for we had found 
no place to " tie up ; " and it required the services of two oarsmen 
to keep us off the rocks. When the storm came, we were obliged 
to take turns at the oars, two at a time, while the balance sat on 
the boats' bottom. Thus we rode out the weary night, and the 
morning found us wet, sore, hungry and dejected. 

With the early dawn, all eyes were turned to the rocky eleva- 
tion, for we felt sure relief must come from the report of the scouts. 
Not a soul in sight, and after picking up and carefully dividing the 
few remnants of food yet left, we resolved to make an effort to hail 
our companions. Hallooing loudly several times, we at last distin- 
guished a faint reply, and in a few minutes had the satisfaction of 
seeing one of them swing himself down to the projection of the 
ledge. He lowered the line very quickly, secured it, and then told 



130 KNIGHTS OF TIIE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

us that we must hasten, for he had reason to suspect that himself 
and companion had been discovered by our pursuers, and if his 
suspicions were correct, we had no time to spare. By general con- 
sent, I took the lead, and, after much tugging and squirming, 
reached the first ledge. Its entire area was not more than five 
square feet ; and, as I stood there, with nothing to steady myself 
by but the force of my own will, I did not wonder at the mishap of 
poor Bill Davis. When the scout loosed the fastening of the line 
and threw the lead around another jutting crag, at least thirty feet 
above where we were standing, and coolly bade me ascend, my heart 
misgave me, and I told him I could not. Deliberately drawing a 
pistol from his belt and pointing it at my head, he lowered his ugly 
face close to mine and yelled : 

" Gwo up er down, God damn yer, quick ! " 

I lost no time in seizing the line, and then was done the tallest 
climbing of my life. When I was something like half way up, a 
huge bird flapped his monstrous wings within a foot of my head, 
gave a great scream, and seemed about to pounce upon me. It 
was the Lord's mercy that I did not drop into the sea from the 
effects of fright, but at that moment my eye caught a fissure in 
the rock, into which I thrust a foot and rested my tired energies. 
But a voice from below soon notified me to go ahead ; and, gather- 
ing all my strength for the effort, I climed to the second projection 
without further accident. It seemed about five minutes before the 
scout reached me, and, without regard for my fatigue, he immedi- 
ately attached the line to a higher point and bade me ascend. I 
did not hesitate now, but seized the rope at once and did my best 
climbing ; but had I not discovered a friendly hand extended to me 
from over the projecting ledge, I must have failed to reach the 
end of the line, for my hands were bleeding, my feet bruised, my 
head dizzy and my breath nearly exhausted. It was the hand of 
welcome reached forth by the other scout, who was waiting in 
nervous anxiety, to witness the escape from danger of myself and 
friends. 

" Things is a gittin' interestin'," said he. Crawl along ther 
ledge, keerful, for we're spied shore, an' ther'll be hell 'fore long, 
fer somebody." 

Following his direction, I moved along the table of the ledge, on 
my hands and knees, to a small cave, within which I found com- 
fortable quarters. He then left me, to reconnoiter, but in a short 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 131 

time I was joined by one of my companions from the boat, and 
then another, until at length we were all in the cave safe and 
thankful. But we were tired and very hungry. The question of 
food was of great moment, and not one of us had the remotest 
idea of how and where we could obtain relief. One of the men 
estimated that we must be about five or six miles from the town 
of Summit, and proposed that some one be sent there with him for 
supplies, while the balance should seek much needed rest and re- 
pose. Arrangements were soon concluded, and the two set out, in 
fine spirits, promising to return with food soon as possible; and 
they were sure it would be in a few hours. 

Time dragged heavily enough in that cave of the rocks. We sat 
there looking into each other's faces, too much occupied with our 
troubles to talk, too hopeless to endeavor to cheer each other. 
And as the dark hours passed, each one in its turn dissipating the 
last lingering hope, the despairing gaze with which we regarded 
each other was dreadfully frightful. But soon nature asserted her 
claims too emphatically to resist, and one by one we dropped to 
sleep. The poor man's heaven was ours. 

I awoke in dread affright. Something, I knew not what, had 
happened; but my companions were all in confusion ; the blackest 
darkness enveloped us, and no one knew the nature of the trouble. 
One was sure he had been awakened by the report of a rifle, — 
another/that a human voice was calling for help, while another 
was strong in the belief that our retreat had been discovered, and 
that our pursuers were even now investigating our position. But 
all was silent, and gathering ourselves into something like order, 
we awaited more tangible demonstrations. In the stillness of that 
dark night, unable to distinguish each other's forms through the 
gloom, or to even discover whether there were not foes in our very 
presence, mingling with, and preparing to overwhelm us, I ex- 
perienced in the few moments of painful suspense that intervened 
between my forced awakening, and the discovery of the cause 
thereof, an intensity of agonizing fear that words are powerless 
to describe. God protect us from a repetition of such experiences. 

f 



132 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Coveted Supplies Intercepted — Their Rescue at the Cost of Blood — Human 
Snakes — Feast Beside the Corpse of a Noble Scout — He Bequeaths His 
Body as a Decoy to Entrap the Murderous Band — His Death Terribly 
Avenged, and a Hecatomb of the Villains Follow Him to the Dark Waters — 
A Parley with One-sided Conditions — Again on the Tramp for Civilization — 
Arrival at the Crescent City. 

" Ho, boys ! " 

Bang ! 

Whiz-z-sh — thud ! 

A yell, shrill and cutting, — an unearthly groan, and right in our 
midst, among the jagged rocks, there fell the body of a man, 
sprinkling those who stood near with his warm blood! Some one 
ventured to inquire, 

"What's the matter?" 

" Come clus, an' '11 tell yer," said he, in a weak voice. " We 
got ther fodder all reg'lar, tu Summit, an' Jack an' me wus a- 
cumin' back, an' we'd een'mos' brung in, wen we seed snakes, a 
few. They wus jist a layin' low, an' a watchin' out for us. Wen 
they seed we'd spied 'em, they let sliver, an' all on 'em fired tu 
onct, a hittin' Jack plum dead, an' wingin' me squar on ther knee 
jint. I pottered for the kiver, rapid, an' in a little bit wus a 
crawlin' through ther brush, holdin' ther fodder tight, for I knowed 
somebody 'd be gittin' sharp fer a bite. Oh! I'm mos' gone, boys. 
Jist a drap o' whisky, an' mabbe I'll git through." 

A flask was held to his lips, and he immediately revived." 

u Wal, I got 'round to ther op'nin', by ther fust ledge," he con- 
tinued, " an' thar I seed snakes agin', an' foun' I mus' lay low. 
They did'nt git a sight o' me, but I know'd they was suspicionin' 
ther trail, for they kep ther peepers turned this way all ther time. 
Wen it got dark, thort I'd gi,ve 'em ther slip, but my knee was 




YE MORGAN KNIGHTS ON YE " DARK AND BLOODY GROUND." 



11 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 133 

powerful stiff, and I cud only crawl. Bin'by I lost ther bearins, 
an' arter standin' out an' standin' in a heap, ventured to holler. 
The dam snakes let sliver agin', but didn't hit. I diskivered tho', 
thet wan'nt lame as I thort, an got up an' run like mad. But I 
run squar into 'nother snake's nest, an' then they woun' me up, 
shore. They're har' jist on top of ther ledge, an' boys, it's a bad 
show. They don't know ther lead now, an' 'spect I'm feeding 
fishes ; but put me 'way out on ther rocks, so's the'll see me wen 
they look over, an' then — then — oh, oh, — boys — I'm gone ! Dave 
Thomas," he exclaimed, seeming to gather all his energies for a 
last effort, " ef yer ever see my wife again', poor girl, tell her, 
Dave, that I furgive, es I hope God will, — oh, cum clus, boys. 
Good — good bye ! " 

Wc lifted him up, and one of our party found a large bundle 
slung with a cord across his shoulders. It contained provisions, 
and nothing could have been more acceptable, but I am truly 
ashamed to record that the dying agonies of the faithful scout were 
at once disregarded, and we all fell to devouring the food he had 
lost his life in procuring ! He showed no further signs of physical 
existence, however, and we sat there, occasionally munching the 
cakes and bread, till dawn of day. Our whispered conference was 
all of plans to escape, but we saw no promise of deliverance in 
anything but a bloody fight. We were well armed and knew how 
to use our weapons, but our foes doubtless had the same advan- 
tage, and without doubt outnumbered us largely. 

With the early light, the dead body of the poor scout was placed 
on the extreme outer projection of the table ledge, as a blind. 
Dave Thomas had reconnoitered, and had found a pass from our 
place of concealment that would lead us out in a different direction 
from that taken by our unfortunate friends who made the trip to 
Summit. He was strong in the belief that we would escape by his 
route, the difficulties of which were only so many arguments in its 
favor, as he viewed it. We therefore determined to make our pre- 
parations and be off at once. 

We loaded our rifles and pistols, stowed the remnant of food in 
our pockets, destroyed all evidence of our rendezvous there, and, 
with Dave in the lead, commenced the toilsome ascent. I brought 
up the rear, and, as I was turning the first point of the pass, 
thought I heard a voice behind me. Dodging quickly behind the 
rock, and peeping cautiously back, I saw two men bending over the 



134 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

dead scout and engaged in earnest conversation. This then was 
the advance guard of the enemy, and we had not made our move- 
ment a moment too quick ; but it occurred to me that we were now 
in a position to defy them ; so giving the signal for a halt, I at 
once communicated my discovery to the others, and we held coun- 
cil on the spot. The youngest of our party, whose father was also 
with ue, was set to watch the movements of the " snakes," and he 
soon reported that they were rifling the pockets of the dead man, 
and preparing to throw him over the ledge. 

u Thet thar must be ther sign tu sen' 'em arter him," said Dave 
Thomas ; " you an' me, Jem, '11 du it. Stiddy, now, my boy, an' 
fer his head, shore. Ready ! aim ! stiddy now ! Fire ! " 

The two scoundrels sprang from the ground with an unearthly 
howl, staggered blindly, and went whirling down that awful depth, 
occasionally torn by the jagged rocks, into the seething billows. of 
the Gulf. But those two shots were like sowing the dragon's teeth, 
for as the smoke cleared away, we saw that table rock filled with 
armed men, who came in wild confusion on the scene, and seemed 
greatly at fault because they did not find us there. But they were 
not long in discovering the pass, and crowded into it heedlessly, 
still in confusion. It was very narrow, so they were obliged to 
advance single file. It was understood that we reserve our fire till 
they reached the point, and that we then rise and fire simultane- 
ously with our rifles, reserving the pistols for those who came next. 
As they neared us they seemed to gather- a little caution, and some 
held back, but they were soon in fair position for a good aim, and 
the signal to rise and fire was given. Never was an order ex- 
ecuted with more steadiness and precision, and every shot told. 
Six poor devils went tumbling over the ledge, each leaving the 
trace of a stream of blood in his wake, and on to his unhappy 
doom. 

?' Charge on 'em, before they hev time ter load," was the com- 
mand. 

And so they came charging on our position, thinking to take 
us at disadvantage, but the first who came clambering up to the 
point received a bullet from my revolver, between the eyes, and 
went as another prize to the sharks of the Gulf. Still they pressed 
on, and still we shot them down, keeping two of our number safe 
behind the point to load rifles and pistols that we might at no time 
be without the means of giving our pursuers a warm reception. It 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 135 

was a bloody season, lasting about an hour, when the enemy in 
sight were reduced to five men. A finger from my left hand had 
been torn away by a rifle ball, and two had pierced my hat, but 
my companions were all unscathed. 

The enemy asked for a parley. Dave Thomas objected, strongly, 
and declared it. was our duty to shoot them all down, quick as pos- 
sible ; but a majority of our crowd thought it no more than fair to 
grant their request, as we now outnumbered them. 

" Stack your arms and come around the point," said I. 

They hesitated, conferred a moment, and finally refused. 

" Very well, then," I replied ; " the game will go on again." 

" Hold, a minute," shouted an old fellow, who had lost his hat in 
the general scramble, " and we will do as you command." 

As they came around the point, I asked if they made up the en- 
tire balance of the party that was now pursuing us. They answered 
in the aflirmative, saying that their original number was twenty- 
seven ; that three had been killed in previous skirmishes, and nine- 
teen in this. 

" What do you wish, now ? " I asked. 

" We would like to retire from the fight," said the old gentle- 
man, " taking our arms with us." 

" Ah ! just so," I replied. " Your party is very effectually whip- 
ped, and now you would like to march away with all the honors of 
war. We can not quite agree to that, but this is what we will agree 
to. In the first place, however, which one of your party is best ac- 
quainted with the country hereabout ? " 

The old fellow was indicated as most thoroughly posted. 

" This, then, is what we will do," I continued : " We will bind 
your comrades here, hands and feet, securely, and leave them, while 
you must go with us as a guide. We shall keep your company for 
one day's journey only, and then you will be at liberty to return 
and release your friends. Resistance will do you no good, but may 
result in harm ; so, your only course is, to submit peacefully." 

The four men did object, nevertheless, and one resisted stoutly; 
but we soon had them secure, placed in as comfortable position as 
circumstances would allow, and then took up our line of march once 
more. 

In about two hours we arrived at the town of New Washington 
and sent one of our men in for food and whisky, both of which he 
readily obtained. At noon we crossed Cedar Bayou on an old flat- 



136 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

ing, we arrived at our destination. Here we remained for a time 
sufficient to recuperate our worn-out energies, and then set forward 
for New Orleans. It was necessary still to be strictly on our guard, 
for well we knew the tenacity with which we Avould be pursued, and 
how fearful would be our punishment if detected and captured. We 
arrived, however, safely at the Crescent City, thankful for our es- 
cape from the human hyenas who were so closely following us. 



KNTGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 137 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Revolution in the Order and a new Dispensation inaugurated— Disunion ot 
the States the determined purpose of Traitors — Return to St. Augustine — 
Exciting Scenes — The Parson re-appears upon the Stage — Contemptible weak- 
ness of his Soul — He imparts most heart-rending intelligence. Wife and 
Child murdered and the Author desolate. 

I was not in a frame of mind to make a long stop at New'Orleans, 
and the generally unsettled aspect of affairs there, was not calcu- 
lated to re-assure me. There was the same uncomfortable air of 
restraint that pervades all provincial barracks-towns, and manv 
of the people seemed oppressed by anticipations of disaster — the 
forebodings of a frightful storm. Incidentally, I formed the ac- 
quaintance of a Knight of the Circle, who, from his position, was 
enabled to preserve some show of conservatism ; and he informed 
me that there was a great revolution in the order ; that Bickley was 
deposed, and an entirely new government inaugurated ; and that 
those who resisted the authority of the revolutionists were sum- 
marily dealt with, even to the taking of life. This Robespierrean 
reign of terror had become general, and had already made itself 
severely felt in all the Castles and Hives; and this was but the 
overture of a programme of blood, for at a grand council of the 
Knights of the new dispensation, that had just concluded its delib- 
erations at Charleston, an immediate separation of the slaveholding 
States from the North, had been determined on ; and the argument 
had been ably defended that if Secession resulted in war, it would 
ceartainly be a success. The advocates of hostile demonstrations 
were largely in the majority, and the strange madness that usurped 
their judgments ruled the hour. When the public mind is imbued 
with such dangerous fanaticisms, thinking men will always fear the 
worst. My own thoughts were of my wife and child; my fears 



138 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

were all for them ; and I, therefore, hastened to be with them, to 
perform, as love and duty bound me, the office of their protector. 

On the morning of my arrival at San Augustine, I noticed the 
same untoward complexion of matters that had struck me at New 
Orleans. It was less than an hour past dawn, but I found the 
wharf crowded with excited wranglers, who did not confine a set- 
tlement of their difficulties exclusively to the force of words, but 
occasionally promulged the arbitrament of the prize ring, and left 
the black seal of their dissent broad upon the countenances of 
their antagonists. Men, young and old, were collected in little 
knots of six to twelve, all excited, and evidently intent on one 
point. 

The pre-occupation of the crowd, and my disguise protected me 
from recognition ; but as I was crossing the levee, the report of a 
pistol and a stinging numbness in the elbow of my right arm 
almost threw me off my guard, for I thought I was attacked. On 
looking around, however, it became evident that the luckless bullet 
had not been intended for me, so I moved forward with all possible 
haste, for fear I might have forced upon me other undeserved at- 
tentions. I did not wish to stop in the city, and was alone intent on 
reaching my home ; but as I was passing through one of the least 
frequented streets that I had selected to escape observation, I was 
suddenly hailed by a familiar voice, and my old friend, Parson Tay- 
lor, saluted me with great cordiality. 

"Really, brother Wright," he exclaimed, "this is a happiness, 
and a surprise. Where do you come from, and how came you 
here?" 

I commenced to relate my' story, when he excitedly exclaimed : 

"Why your arm is completely soaked in blood. You are badly 
wounded, I fear, so come to me till we have it attended to." 

A short walk brought us to the old man's house, and he imme- 
diately went to work for my relief. The bullet had shattered a 
bone, slightly, and was lodged in the fleshy part of the forearm, 
making it quite easy to dress the wound; and I was soon comfort- 
able. After partaking of a delicious breakfast, I related my ex- 
perience, from my escape in female dress, when I abandoned my 
fellow-prisoner to his fate, and stole his crape, up to the accident on 
the levee, that had just occurred; and never was auditor more tho- 
roughly beside himself with surprise and painful emotion, than 
Parson Taylor, as he listened to my recital. Tears, profusely shed, 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 139 

atestod the genuineness of hia sympathy, and he wrung my hand 
in a very agony of grief, and continued for several minutes to ex- 
hibit evidences of the deepest woe. Finally he appeared calmer : 
but I could scarcely credit the evidence of my sense of hearing, 
when he suddenly jumped up from his chair, and astonished me 
with these words : 

" Would to God, brother Wright, you had been killed, or had 
died; anything, rather than have returned here! Do you know 
what has happened, and what fate is in store for you when it is 
known you have come back ? " 

" I know that I have done nothing wrong, and my duty to my 
family would bring me back, if I had no other motive. It seems 
you have overlooked a point, that one would imagine should have 
your first attention. I wish to proceed to my home at once, and, 
after I am assured of the health and safety of my wife and child, I 
am prepared to meet any charge that may be brought against me." 

" I feel that you have done nothing criminally wrong," said the 
old man, " and I know that the promptings of duty and affection 
have brought you here, only to be disappointed in — " 

" What ? " 

"Calm yourself, my dear friend, and summon all your fortitude, 
for it will require a stout heart to endure what has unfortunately 
fallen to my lot to relate to you. In order that you understand 
fully, it becomes me to go back to the time when we started for 
Galveston — " 

"No, no ! don't refer to that now, but .tell me of my wife and 
child. They are first in my thoughts, because they occupy my 
heart ; and when I hear that they are well and happy, I can listen 
to the relation of unimportant events. Tell me of them at once," 
I exclaimed, as I saw him troubled and hesitating, " tell me now, 
or I will go to them without further delay, and assure myself of 
the facts." 

I arose to go forth. 

" Sit down, Wright, and be calm," exclaimed the Parson, at the 
same time giving abundant evidence of his own lack of self-control 
by bursting into a flood of tears. His emotion was incomprehen- 
sible, and filled me with the gloomiest forebodings. I besought 
him to speak, — to tell the story in his own way, but to come to 
the point soon as possible, for suspense like mine was hard to bear. 
He spoke nearly as follows : 



140 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

" I will not go back now to the point proposed, but explain my 
desire to do so at some other time. On my return from Galves- 
ton, I was told that you were dead, and having no means of assur- 
ing myself to the contrary, finally believed it. « I was also told 
that you caused the death of Judge Firman, which I, of course, 
emphatically denied ; but I soon found that it was part of a plot to 
make this charge against you and my life was threatened if I denied 
it again I I am an old man, weak, nervous, and somewhat unde- 
cided, and have therefore been guilty of the great sin of hearing 
you repeatedly charged with the crime of murder without denying 
it, when I knew it to be false. Thus, I have assisted your enemies 
in branding you with a foul crime, of which, were your presence 
here known, you would be made to suffer the extreme penalty with- 
out the forms of trial. You must not be seen in the streets, even 
in disguise, for notwithstanding the great change in your appear- 
ance, I recognized you at sight, just as every one will who has 
known you intimately." 

" But, my dear sir, there is nothing easier than to disprove this 
foul charge ; and it is my duty to myself and family to disprove it 
without delay. You will not refuse your evidence now as to the 
facts ?" 

"We must be very circumspect, my friend. I am fixed in the 
belief that your appearance in public would be the signal for your 
immediate execution, without giving you an opportunity to produce 
evidence, and that, if you had opportunity, and proved your inno- 
cence beyond the shadow of a doubt, your fate would be the same." 

" Does my wife know of this charge ? " 

" She must have heard of it." 

" Have you seen her recently ? " 

"Not for several days." 

" Had she heard that I was dead ? " 

" Yes ! she had heard such a report, but I am told she did not 
credit it." 

" You were told she did not ? Did she say nothing to you on 
the subject ?" 

"No!" 

" Were she and my child in good health when you last saw 
them ? " 

No reply. 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 141 

" Parson Taylor, you must answer me this question, or I will go 
and ascertain in person. I will not be kept in suspense." 

" My dear friend, be calm. I will answer anything in reason, 
and am pained to tell you that your family is not in health. I beg 
of you not to question me further now, and I will soon tell you 
all." | 

" Answer me once more, in mercy ; are they dangerously ill ?" 

" Oh, no ! they 're not ill at all, — that is, I think they are not 
now — but I am confused. Really, friend Wright, you must excuse 
me—" 

"No, sir! I have already wasted too many words, and now 
demand the facts. You tell me that my family is not in health, 
and that they are not ill. How am I to understand so bungling a 
paradox ? In a word, tell me the truth without evasion, or it will 
be the worse for you, for I am getting desperately in earnest on this 
point, ■ and shall not regard your office nor professions till it is 
settled. Without equivocation or evasion," said I, rising in a 
threatening attitude, " what was the condition of my wife and child 
when you last saw them ?" 

" My friend, you are excited, and can not endure an answer to 
that question, such as you demand, and, for God's sake, don't force 
me to answer you now. Have some rest, calm your excited nerves, 
and then I will tell you all." 

"This is madness. You refuse to answer me, and I will go 
home, let the consequences be disastrous as you represent them; 
for I shall go wild if I remain longer in this suspense. Do you 
still refuse a reply?" 

" Well, Wright, if I must tell you the truth prepare your mind 
for a terrible affliction. Sit down and calm yourself, and I will 
tell you all." 

" I shall not be calmer than I am now. I am ready." 

The old man looked at me tearfully, and was silent. 

" I am ready ; proceed." 

" You promise to be calm ?" 

"Yes!" 

" It will require all your strength, for I never had more sorrow- 
ful news for a father. Your child is dead!" 

"Dead? Dead? old man; do you say that my Effie, — my darl- 
ing, — that is my heart's blood, and the joy of my life, is dead? 
Effiie, dead? Oh, it is cruel to say that; and as you hope for the 



142 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

mercy of heaven, old man, tell me it is a lie, — a wicked fabrica- 
tion, — a — anything but the truth. Say that you were instructed 
to tell me this just to torture me, — oh, unsay those cruel words, 
and I will bless you with my latest breath." 

" I tell you what I know, of my own knowledge, dear friend. 
"Would it were not true ; but you promised calmness, and you are 
unduly excited. Now, do take some rest, for I have engagements 
that call me out. When I return we will confer regarding your 
plans for the future ; and you may rely on my friendship in every 
event." 

" God have mercy on my poor heart ! I have now drank of the 
bitter cup, truly ; but tell me of my wife. How does she bear this 
affliction?" 

" When I return, Wright, we will talk of that," replied he, in a 
choking voice. 

His tone and manner startled me, and I exclaimed : 

" Tell me now, in mercy. I can bear the worst — all." 

"Poor soul," said he, abstractedly; "you know not what you 
ask. Would that some other had my task to perform. Nerve 
yourself to receive a more painful announcement than I have made, 
for the worst is yet to come." 

" Then, my wife, too, is dead ! Is that what you would say ? 
Oh, it is ! it is ! I see it in your looks ; I know it ! My God ! do 
I deserve so much misery? Now they may do their worst — I care 
not. Do you say they will hang me ? They are welcome, and I 
will go to my fate as to a feast. Dead ? Lucy and Effie, both ?" 
And then I raved wildly, as I was afterward told, and did many 
insane acts, to the great detriment and chagrin of the worthy 
Parson and his family. During the long weeks I was sick under 
that hospitable roof, I was cared for tenderly, and I am deeply 
grateful ; but, at last, when they permitted me to leave the bed 
and crawl about the house, I found that I was a spirit-broken, 
heart-deserted, old man, at thirty years. There was little of value 
left to me in life ! 

Wife and child both gone ! Would that I had gone with them ! 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 143 



CHAPTER XX. 

Conspiracy to accomplish the Author's Death — Villainy under the guise of 
Friendship — A high-souled Yankee Wife nobly defends her Virtue and baf- 
fles the purposes of a Southern Knave — His murderous attempt upon her 
Life — Poisoning of her Child — The Mother soon follows her to the Realms of 
Bliss. 

On the plea of my unsoundness to the cause, a conspiracy had 
been planned against me before I started for Galveston, with the 
intention of embroiling me in such a manner with the Texan Knights 
that I could not escape alive. Had my companions been left to 
follow out their instructions without hindrance, such would doubt- 
less have been the result, and hence the easy credence accorded to 
the report of my death. It pains me to write of the real object of 
this conspiracy, but it is an important link in this history, and the 
truth must appear. 

Among my pretended friends at San Augustine, was one Tallbot, 
who professed an extraordinary regard for the welfare of myself 
and family. He was the smoothest villain I ever saw — handsome, 
polite in all the forms that word describes ; cautious, deliberate, 
scheming. He came often to my house, at first on my invitations, 
for I had always judged men hastily, and my first impressions of 
this man were favorable ; but my wife did not like him, and the 
more she saw of him, the less he shared her esteem. He either 
did not notice, or, with the nonchalance of a thorough-bred roue, 
affected not to see, her changed manner, that constantly marked the 
degree of disfavor into which he had fallen ; but, as voluntary at- 
tentions to his comfort became fewer and less noted, with the 
shrewdness of an old tactician he constantly paraded his claims to 
favor, by noisily disavowing and ignoring them. I could not ac- 



144 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

count, for Lucy's persistent dislike, and her unusual reticence was 
mysteriously uncomfortable ; but after this state of things had con- 
tinued for several months, she began to exhibit signs of a rebellious 
disposition, and pointedly requested that I would not again invite 
Tallbot to see us. It then seemed time for me to ask for expla- 
nations, and she informed me that she had long ago discovered my 
friend was not a gentleman, although his ordinary speech and 
manner would seem to mark him as such'. That he had indulged 
in language to her that his manner had interpreted in a very offen- 
sive sense, and she was sure his designs were anything but honor- 
able. But I was slow to believe ; in fact, saw nothing to really 
condemn; and joked Lucy on her Northern prejudices, puritanical 
education, and remarkable quickness at noticing defects in every- 
body but her husband. I was wrong, and she was right ; and every 
woman is right in similar discoveries. God has implanted among 
the perceptive organs of every female a faculty that instinctively 
sounds the alarm at the first indication of an attack on her virtue, 
and woe to her who disregards its warning voice ! 

Tallbot now came uninvited, and so after that I began to feel it 
an abuse of hospitality, therefore did not always give him a cordial 
welcome. He was doubtless well enough aware of the change in 
my manner, but had too much command over himself, or was too 
intent on his object, to make a corresponding change. He had 
probably played the role too often to be " put out " in any 
sense. 

To this friend was I indebted for my appointment on the com- 
mission to regulate the Galveston Knights ; and his genius has 
credit for the scheme to murder me. I found him at my house on 
the night of my appointment, and he was very demonstrative in his 
congratulations. 

" You are the man for the emergency," said he, with his bland- 
est manner, " and I am sure the interests of the order could not be 
in safer keeping. All rely on your firmness to push the great ob- 
jects of the commission, and that there will be no compromises." 

He had already secretly joined the New-Lights, and was there- 
fore politely counseling me to do what he knew would cost me 
my life ! 

I am indebted to my friend Taylor for the principal facts that 
make up the balance of the chapter. I had been absent but four 
days, when " brother Tallbot " rode to my house in great haste, and 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 145 

abruptly informed my wife that I was dead! Without giving her 
time to reply, he told her he was much pressed for time just then, 
that the particulars of my death had not been received yet, but 
soon as they were, he would send them to her. Riding hurriedly 
off, he left poor Lucy almost distraught with the astounding intelli- 
gence. Her distraction was soon tempered by doubts, however; 
and the questionable characteristics of Tallbot, enabled her to divine 
his motives for giving currency to such a report; but love must be 
perfectly satisfied, — so she made hurried preparations, and called 
on my attorney in St. Augustine. He had just received a similar 
announcement of my sudden demise, without particulars, and was 
therefore incapable of offering any words of comfort to my poor 
wife. So she retraced her steps in sadness, and returned to her 
home in something like a realization of a great and overpowering 
misery. For two days and nights she ate not, slept not. On the 
third day, came Tallbot with a neatly fashioned lie, detailing all 
the particulars of my fate, and loudly eulogizing the dead ; and for 
a time Lucy forgot the villian, and treated him as a friend. He 
stopped to dinner, and almost exceeded himself in efforts to remove 
the disagreeable impressions he had previously made. His words 
of condolence were so ingeniously simulated, it is little wonder that 
the poor woman was partially thrown off her guard. He prelonged 
his visit late after night, and when the servants had retired, he at- 
tempted an act to make devils blush ! — Seizing a pistol, she aimed 
it steadily at his head, and the coward ran from her; but with true 
courage and commendable judgment, she attempted to fire on him. 
The cap exploded without igniting the charge. Then he supposed 
her at his mercy, and turned back; but she was ready, for the re- 
volver was fully charged; and bringing him within range, she fired 
deliberately, sending a bullet plowing through his smooth cheek, 
and tearing away a piece of an ear in a fashion that will lea\e him 
a monument of woman's vengeance till the day of judgment. 

Tallbot howled and danced with rage and pain ; but soon footsteps 
were heard, as the alarmed household commenced to hurry toward 
the parlor. Rushing up to Lucy, he dealt a powerful blow with his 
clenched fist upon her head, that felled her to the floor; and then 
'dashed through the window, just as two negro men were entering 
the room. One of them sprang after him, but too late, for he had 
gained his horse, and Was galloping rapidly away before Jem 
reached the gate. 



146 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

When they raised my dear wife from the floor, her face was cov- 
ered with blood. The poor slaves were almost beside themselves 
with terror, but the women finally removed her to a bed, and a 
physician was summoned. He examined her injuries very gravely, 
and expressed no hope for her recovery ; but next day she rallied, 
and conversed several hours with friends that called. And so for 
several days, although her attacks of delirium were growing daily 
more and more severe. 

Late one evening an old woman, or a devil in disguise, was seen 
at my gate, with my little daughter in her arms. The child was 
immediately brought in by one of the negroes, but the old woman 
had given her some pleasant confections, which she continued to 
eat and enjoy highly. They were poisoned, and before the light 
of another dawn, that darling of our hearts had joined her sister 
angels in Paradise. , 

Who shall paint the dark misery that now filled the heart of my 
devoted Lucy ? Who shall say that there is a more dreaded hell 
than the Knights of the Circle can make here on earth ? 

On the day after the murder of my little one, Parson Taylor re- 
turned to his home, having been released from captivity in Texas. 
Hearing of the state of affairs at my house, he hastened thither, 
and was fortunate in finding my wife able to converse understand- 
ingly. He informed her that the report of my death was prema- 
ture, and doubtless unfounded, and cheered her greatly with hopes 
of ray speedy return ; but it was plain to him she would last only a 
few days. He performed the last sad rites over my little girl, and 
made a grave for her among the flowers she loved, in the house- 
yard that had been her play-ground. And regularly, every day, 
he called to talk and pray with my dying wife, till near a week had 
passed, when he was one day summoned hastily to her bed side, and 
found her almost expiring. 

" Bury me beside my child," said she, feebly, " for I am going 
now. Tell Edmund, for I feel he is yet alive, that my latest breath 
was spent in prayers for him." 

And then the soul of one of the lovliest women that ever blessed 
this cold world with her presence, winged its flight to the realms 
of bliss. Oh, my sacrificed wife ! my angel child. My heart lies 
between those two graves in the Peninsular State ! 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 147 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Terrible Scene of Domestic Desolation — A Heart-broken Parent— Sorrow 
among the Tombs — Progress of Escape — Arrival at Charleston — Soktan of 
Galveston Castle holds a high position in the Army of Kebeldom — Again 
in a Loyal State — Incidents in the Quaker City — Traitors in the North and 
their Disloyal Purposes — Northern Lovers of the Union, beware of the 
insidious wiles of Villians in your midst — Is Copperheadism Democracy ? — 
Conclusion. 

And now my home was truly desolate, for after the assassin 
came the incendiary ; and my loved ones were scarcely in their 
graves, before the torch was put to the buildings, and everything 
devoted to destruction. Negroes and stock were killed and stolen ; 
furniture destroyed ; family plate and all the heir-looms of all the 
generations that had preceded me, confiscated; and all the cares of 
the household turned over to indiscriminate ruin ! But I must not 
look back, for my brain is reeling and my heart bleeding the mo- 
ment I allow my mind to recur to those scenes. 

Nearly three months I was kept in hiding at Parson Taylor's ; 
but one night near the witching hour, the desire to visit the ruins 
of my home, and the graves of my loved ones, possessed me so 
strongly that I resolved to venture forth. Leaving the house with- 
out discovery, I quickly traversed the well-remembered road, and 
arrived safely at the scene of my former happiness. The moon 
was shining in all her beauty, but on what desertless misery did she 
look down ! How shall I describe the pain, the heart-crushing 
agony of that' hour, as I seated myself near those irregular mounds 
and gazed upon the sod that buried my dead hopes away down in 
the cold earth? The ruins of my worldly possessions were as 
naught — I gave them no heed, no care ; for between myself and 
those heaps of earth, there was a connecting link that grappled on 
12 



1-18 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 

my heart, and drew it from me, bleeding and sore, far down into 
those dark graves ! And there it still rests, and will remain 
forever ! 

I was awakened from a long revery by the red light of a distant 
fire, that I afterward learned was the destruction ,of the estate of 
a dissenter to the monstrous doctrines of the Circle. But it wa8 
time for me to hasten away, and with one more look at the resting- 
place of my wife and child, I returned to the Parson's, and betook 
myself to repose. I have not looked upon those graves since — but 
now, thank God ! the glorious flag of the free is again waving in 
Florida, and I will soon see them again ! 

Another week has passed, and by the help of friend Taylor, who, 
although a semi-rebel, was moved to assist me on account of my 
sufferings, my arrangements are complete for escape to the North. 
I again disguised myself in female apparel, and passed, sometimes 
as a beggar, sometimes as a fortune-teller, through scenes and ad- 
ventures enough to fill a volume. I arrived in Charleston the day 
after the surrender of Sumter, and there I saw and recognized the 
Soldan of the Galveston Castle, who had murdered Judge Firman. 
He held a high position in the army of the rebels, and his name 
has now become historical ; but I never hear it without connecting 
it inseparably with one of the darkest deeds of blood that ever 
stained the records of crime! 

On the 3d day of June, 1861, I arrived in the city of Philadel- 
phia, and made my story known to a couple of gentlemen, who 
immediately interested themselves in my behalf, and procured me 
a presentable wardrobe and a liberal supply of money. I was then 
requested by them to go to a popular hotel, and register myself by 
name and residence, and watch the result. I watched for several 
days faithfully, and almost despairing of making the wished for 
discovery, when one evening a gentleman approached and called 
me by name. I was greatly surprised, for he was an utter stranger ; 
but he explained at once that he saw my name on the book, and 
that the clerk had pointed me out. After a few common-place re- 
marks, he touched on the war, and without waiting to learn my 
sentiments, denounced the action of the administration and the 
North, in emphatic terms. While talking, he used words and signs 
that I could not fail to recognize, and therefore, agreeably to in- 
structions, answered them. He proved to be a King of a Lancaster 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. 149 

Hive, and Jeff Davis never owned a more servile hound than this 
" cur of low degree." 

What I learned from this Pennsylvania renegade is utterly 
worthless, except as proving the animus of the Copperhead 
movement, and it is therefore sufficient to record that he marked 
out for me in skeleton, the entire programme of the Copperhead 
party, as it has since developed itself, then and there ; and stated 
boldly that its objects were to encourage the rebellion, and cripple 
the efforts of the administration to put.it down! And I probably 
need not go farther into this subject, than to simply add, that I 
have since visited all the Hives and Castles but one, that were then 
at work in the Northern States, and that I have found them in 
every instance, made up, directed, and controlled by men who ex- 
press the same detestable sentiments. The evidence in every case, 
has been sufficient to convince me that those men are the prime 
movers in the Copperhead faction, leading away honest men, by 
false professions, from their loyalty, and seeking to destroy the 
blood-bought heritage of our fathers ; but I am forced to admit 
that the evidence in every case, as I am prepared to furnish it, 
might not be sufficient to convince my readers, especially were it 
against their will to be convinced ; and I am therefore prompted 
to caution all parties, all men and women, against saying anything, 
doing anything, or thinking anything in opposition to the present 
administration of our government, till the war is closed, and every 
indication of a rebellious movement in our land crushed out. 

This advice may seem strange to this people, but if we would 
save ourselves from the rule of the Order whose designs I have im- 
perfectly sketched in this volume, we must make every sacrifice to 
resist its encroachments, for it is great and powerful, and will care- 
fully reckon our weaknesses for its profit. Men of the North, be 
not deceived, the wolf is now at your very door, and thirsting 
for the blood of those you love ! 

In the recent State elections, when Copperheadism made itself 
prominent under the sheep's clothing of Democracy, thousands of 
loyal Democrats were basely deceived, and acted with the enemy. 
Are their eyes yet opened to the truth of their position, or have 
they confounded Copperheadism and Democracy ? I glory in the 
name of Democrat. Thank God, 1 am not of the Copperhead 
stripe ! 



150 KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIKCLE. 

I have refrained, as much as possible, from the relation of per- 
sonal experiences, irrelevant to a proper exposition of the subject 
in hands, and have rather erred in the omission of particular 
matters, rather than risk tiring the reader with what he might 
view in the light of unwarrantable prolixity ; but, should the public 
view this little work with any considerable degree of favor, it will 
be followed by another of more pretensions, in which the author 
will detail scenes and incidents that came under his personal obser- 
vation, and in the experience of friends and acquaintances at the 
South, that, to say the least, will repay perusal. 



RD- 361 



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